Coming into today, the Brewers had won every game this year that Brandon Woodruff had started. That is no longer the case. Milwaukee only managed one run against Jameson Taillon and the Cubs’ bullpen as they dropped the second game of today’s doubleheader, 4-1.
The Brewers got on the board in the top of the first thanks to a two-out rally. Taillon quickly retired Sal Frelick and Caleb Durbin to start the game, but William Contreras singled on a hard line drive to Cubs centerfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Christian Yelich then worked a five-pitch walk to keep the inning alive, bringing up Andrew Vaughn, who did what Andrew Vaughn has been doing since he joined the Brewers:
Vaughn’s RBI single quickly made it 1-0, Milwaukee. Chicago put a couple runners on in the bottom of the first after Michael Busch and Ian Happ both reached, though the inning could have been worse than it ended up being. After Happ singled on a ball deflected by Vaughn at first base, the ball rolled slowly into right field. Busch almost certainly would have made it to third base had he not slid headfirst into second in anticipation of a throw.
The next batter, Seiya Suzuki, grounded into a 6-4 forceout to put runners on the corners. That brought up Crow-Armstrong, who struck out swinging on five pitches. Woody then got Carson Kelly to stare at a fastball on the outside corner for the third out.
Milwaukee couldn’t score in the top of the second despite a Danny Jansen double and a Sal Frelick single. That would be the last half-inning in which they would lead. Hoerner walked to lead off the bottom of the frame and promptly stole second, setting the table for Owen Caissie. Caissie singled to left field for his fourth RBI of the doubleheader, scoring Hoerner to tie the game at one. Woodruff retired Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw, but Busch ripped a double down the right field line, scoring Caissie for the Cubs’ second run of the inning. Woodruff struck out the next batter, Happ, but the damage was done. Chicago led 2-1 after two innings.
Taillon had a bit of a shaky start, allowing four hits and a run through the first two innings. However, he only got stronger as the game went on. Taillon ended up going six innings, only allowing one hit through his last four innings. Milwaukee went three up, three down in the third, fourth, and fifth innings.
Chicago also didn’t manage much against Woodruff until the bottom of the fifth. Woody gave up a leadoff single to Ian Happ, but struck out Seiya Suzuki. His day would end there — through 4 1/3 innings, the veteran right-hander allowed three runs on five hits while striking out six.
Aaron Ashby entered the game with Happ on first and one out. He immediately struck out Crow-Armstrong, and for a second it looked like he would get out of the inning unscathed. Kelly, the next batter, singled to keep the inning alive. Nico Hoerner then hit a single up the middle himself, scoring Happ from second base. Kelly rounded second and dove safely into third just ahead of the tag from Caleb Durbin. Brewers manager Pat Murphy challenged the ruling, but replay wasn’t enough to overturn the call on the field. Cubs manager Craig Counsell then brought in Justin Turner to pinch-hit for Owen Caissie, but Turner grounded out to end the inning.
Despite a Yelich single with one out, the Brewers went down quietly in the top of the sixth. The Cubs, on the other hand, added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after a one-out triple from Shaw. Busch then hit a ground ball to Turang at second. Turang, playing in for a potential play at the plate, had to range to his left to cut off the ground ball and threw it off his back foot. His throw to Jansen at home plate was high, and Shaw slid in safely to make it 4-1.
The Brewers followed by mounting a rally in the top of the seventh. Joey Ortiz singled with one out to put runners on the corners for Frelick, who hit a shallow fly ball to Willi Castro in right field. Turang, the runner on third, tagged up and broke for home in an attempt to make it 4-2. Castro’s throw, however, was perfect, hosing Turang to end the inning.
Neither team managed much on offense for the rest of the game, and the contest ended at that score — 4-1, Chicago. Vaughn, Isaac Collins, and Turang all grounded out against Cubs reliever Andrew Kittredge to end the game.
One injury note from today’s game: Ortiz came up grabbing his knee after he singled in the seventh and was pulled for Andruw Monasterio. Per Pat Murphy, it sounds like the injury was due to fouling a pitch off his knee during the at-bat. Ortiz will not play in tomorrow’s game, though X-rays are reportedly negative.
Milwaukee will look to bounce back tomorrow in the fourth game of a rare five-game series. Rookie Jacob Misiorowski is slated to take the hill for Milwaukee, while former Brewer Colin Rea will get the ball for Chicago.
