Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers

· Major League Baseball

Chicago Cubs

28-29, 13-18 Away

Final
4 - 6

Milwaukee Brewers

33-23, 15-10 Home

Gary Sánchez hits tiebreaking 2-run homer in 8th inning as Brewers defeat the Cubs 6-4

The NL Central-leading Brewers won three of four games against Chicago in a series that marked Cubs manager Craig Counsell’s return to American Family Field. Counsell, the winningest manager in Brewers history, was showered with boos every time he left the dugout this week.

The Cubs (28-29) have lost seven of their past eight and are below .500 for the first time since the end of March.

“We've just got to keep going,” Counsell said. “We're in a tough stretch. When you're in a tough stretch, it feels like you don't get breaks. We've got to make our own breaks, and we'll keep doing that.”

After the Cubs twice came from behind with game-tying homers off Bryan Hudson (4-0), Sánchez delivered the biggest shot of all to put Milwaukee back in front for good. His 422-foot drive over the center-field wall came on a 3-2 sweeper from Tyson Miller.

The Brewers earlier wasted a golden opportunity to score in the eighth. After Luke Little (1-1) walked Christian Yelich and Willy Adames to start the inning, pinch-hitter Owen Miller grounded into a double play on a 3-2 pitch.

Right-hander Tyson Miller came out of the bullpen and gave up the towering homer from Sánchez. The right-handed-hitting Sánchez had entered Thursday with a .971 OPS against left-handers but only a .643 OPS against right-handers.

“He's going to have some strikeouts, but the guy's dangerous, and everybody in the league knows it,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I'm really happy for him. He’s kind of shoved it in our face a little bit, like, ‘Hey man, I can hit more than lefties,’ Pretty cool.”

This wasn’t the first time Sánchez has won a game with an eighth-inning blast this season. He had a two-run, pinch-hit homer off Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of a 7-5 victory at Pittsburgh on April 25.

“Really, nothing changes there,” Sánchez said through a translator regarding his ability to hit in the clutch. “I think the focus remains the same. Find a pitch in the zone and try to put a good swing on it. I was able to do that today.”

Elvis Peguero worked around a one-out single by Dansby Swanson in the ninth to earn his first save in two opportunities. The game ended with Patrick Wisdom grounding out on a nice play by third baseman Joey Ortiz.

Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki and Christopher Morel homered for the Cubs.

After Suzuki’s two-run, pinch-hit homer off Hudson tied the game in the top of the seventh, the Brewers scored a go-ahead run in the bottom half of the inning.

Blake Perkins reached on a two-out infield single, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Brice Turang’s infield hit.

Chicago tied the game again in the eighth when Morel sent a 3-1 pitch from Hudson over the wall in right-center for his team-leading 10th homer of the season.

Before Thursday, the only homer Hudson had allowed all season was an inside-the-park shot by Elly De La Cruz on April 8. Hudson’s performance Thursday raised his ERA from 0.59 to 1.13.

TRAINER'S ROOM

The Cubs recalled outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong before the game and optioned infielder Luis Vázquez to Triple-A Iowa. The Brewers recalled right-hander Kevin Herget from Triple-A Nashville and designated right-hander Mitch White for assignment.

Cubs: Return home for a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds. The scheduled starting pitchers for Friday's series opener are right-hander Javier Assad (4-1, 2.17 ERA) for the Cubs and right-hander Graham Ashcraft (4-3, 4.67) for the Reds.

Brewers: Begin a three-game home series with the Chicago White Sox. Friday's schedule starting pitchers are right-hander Tobias Myers (1-2, 4.43) for the Brewers and right-hander Erick Fedde (4-1, 2.80) for the White Sox.

How can I watch Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers?

TV Channel: Cubs at Brewers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Brewers: 59.9%

Cubs: 40.1%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Wisdom grounded out to third.
	9th Inning	Wisdom hit for Amaya
	9th Inning	Suzuki flied out to right.
	9th Inning	Swanson singled to left.
	9th Inning	Hoerner grounded out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Peguero relieved Hudson

Statistics

CHC		MIL
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
9	Ground Balls	10
6	Strikeouts	7
4	Runs Batted In	6
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
9	Hits	9
0	Stolen Bases	1
1	Walks	3
0	Catcher Interference	0
4	Runs	6
1	Ground Into Double Play	2
0	Sacrifice Flies	1
35	At Bats	30
3	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
10	Runners Left On Base	9
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	2
20	Fly Balls	14
0	Caught Stealing	0
131	Pitches	140
0	Games Started	0
2	Pinch At Bats	1
1	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
20	Total Bases	14
36	Plate Appearances	34
486.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
5	Extra Base Hits	3
5.3	Runs Created	4.6
.257	Batting Average	.300
.500	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.571	Slugging Percentage	.467
.343	Secondary Average	.300
.278	On Base Percentage	.353
.849	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.820
0.5	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.7
5.3	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	5.2
38.0	Batter Rating	41.0
11.7	At Bats Per Home Run	30.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.64	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.12
.314	Isolated Power	.167
0.17	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.43
.028	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.088
.086	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.000
8.0	Runs Produced	12.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.6	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.2	Balls In Play Average	0.4
88.3	MLB Rating	88.3
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0