Brewers blank Cubs |
CHICAGO - Sometimes all it takes is one, and for the Milwaukee Brewers (58-43), that was the case at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. Despite another strong effort from Jameson Taillon, the Chicago Cubs (49-54) offense continued to struggle as they have been held to seven runs in the five games out of the break.
This one especially stings as the Brewers picked up one hit with runners in scoring position in the game. Unfortunately, that one hit was an RBI single off the bat of Brice Turang in the eighth inning, and the Brewers topped the Cubs 1-0. It was a painful loss for Taillon to swallow, but if this was his final start in a Cubs uniform the right hander will go out in style. “I’ve had a great time here,” Taillon said. “I love showing up here every day. It’s a great group of guys. I think we’ve said it a lot -- I feel like we should be better than we are. But to this point, we just haven’t gotten it done and results speak louder than any words we can say here. “I would love to stay here, obviously. I chose coming to Chicago and being a Cub, so that’s where I’m at.” For much of the season, and you can even go back to last September, Taillon has been the most consistent starter in the Cubs rotation, and you can see that by his 2.96 ERA. With 7 1/3 innings of one-run four-hit ball, he continued to pitch well, but the Cubs offense came up empty. “Jamo, he watches the game very well,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after the game. “He’s just very skilled at what he does, so I think he sees things pretty quickly. I think he makes adjustments in-game. He makes adjustments and, at the same time, stays super convicted in-game.” The same can be said for Colin Rea and the Brewers. The veteran right-hander has turned his career around since joining the Brewers in 2023 and is having the best season of his career thus far. Although he only went five innings, it was five scoreless innings, as Rea allowed four hits and struck out eight to lower his ERA to 3.60. After walking a pair of Brewers in the first, Taillon pitched out of trouble, as his inning-ending double play ended a threat. That was the best scoring chance the Brewers would have for most of the night as the Cubs' pitching continued to carry this team. When it comes to the Cubs and their offense, they certainly had their scoring chances, and most of them came with two outs. The first came in the second inning, with Dansby Swanson and Miguel Amaya picking up a pair of singles before a Pete Crow-Armstrong walk loaded the bases. Nico Hoerner grounded out to end the threat as the Cubs wasted a massive scoring chance. The same could be said for the Cubs in the bottom of the fifth as a two-out Hoerner double set the Cubs up while a walk to Michael Busch extended the inning. Once again, the Cubs came up empty as Seiya Suzuki struck out to end the threat. For all of the negative feedback Christopher Morel has received at third base this season, you could make the case that the sixth inning was his best defensive inning of the season. Not only did he make two incredible plays on bunts, with one overturned for a single, but he snared a hot shot at third, spun, and fired home to nail Garrett Mitchell to keep Milwaukee off the board. Morel was quick with it. 👏 pic.twitter.com/2jxwqvaR3i It was the first time since the first inning that the Brewers had any real pressure on Taillon, but that was only the beginning, as the real pressure came in the top half of the eighth. Following a leadoff single from Jake Bauer, Jackson Chourio picked up a single of his own as the Brewers looked to have runners on the corners and no outs. However, Chourio got a little greedy and tried to stretch that single into a double, only to be gunned down by Crow-Armstrong at second. No one knew how big that play would be at the time, but with Julian Merryweather entering the game for the first time in three months, that play was crucial for the time being. Thrust into a massive spot, Merryweather struck out Mitchell for the second out of the inning and came within one strike of finishing off Turang. However, it was Turang winning that battle as he delivered what would be the game-winning hit with a single up the middle to put the Brewers in front 1-0. Needing to rally off of Jared Koenig and the back of the Brewers pen, Hoerner got the offense started as he delivered an infield single off the foot of Koenig. A long Patrick Wisdom fly ball followed that as he came just shy of giving the Cubs the lead. Still standing on first and with two outs, Ian Happ kept the inning alive with a single to right, setting the stage for Morel. Already, with a massive game defensively, Morel tried to play the hero offensively. After fighting off several pitches, he managed to work a walk to load the bases for David Bote. Coming into the game as a .310 career pinch hitter, Bote knows a thing or two about hitting grand slams, as his 2018 grand slam off Ryan Madsen is still one of the best moments in recent Cubs history. After putting together a great at-bat himself, Bote got a pitch to hit and gave it a ride to center, only to have it fall just short of the warning track. That was as close as the Cubs would get as they wasted a leadoff single from Swanson in the ninth inning to be turned aside as the Brewers evened the series with a 1-0 win. Chicago managed to pick up seven hits in the ball game as Hoerner and Swanson led the way with two. The Cubs will go for the series win on Wednesday as they send Justin Steele to the mound in hopes of a bounce-back outing. “First off, we just haven’t played the way we should … it is what it is, we’ve done it to ourselves.” “We never got [a] guy to third with less than two outs.” Let's get some runs 🗣️ 🎤 @EliseMenaker x @Taylor_McGregor pic.twitter.com/VUdrEQUl0e
Jameson Taillon on the trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/8wWQZ1nqyG
The Cubs were 0-for-5 with RISP tonight. pic.twitter.com/o9kmH9iz25
