The Chicago Cubs have their backs against the wall after a 7-3 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field in Milwaukee. The Cubs are now down 2 games to 0 in the best-of-five series.
It’s been a while for me since I’ve written one of these Rapid Recaps and thus, it’s been a while since you’ve read one. The point of them is to get something up quickly after the game until the full recap can be posted the next day. All of the video highlights will come in the full recap in the morning.
Game 2 got off
to a similar start to Game 1 with a big home run in the top of the first inning to give the Cubs an early lead. But instead of a one-run leadoff home run by Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki crushed a three-run home run that went 440 feet to give the Cubs a big early lead.
But I don’t think anyone thought that lead was safe with the gopher ball issues that Cubs starter Shōta Imanaga has had since he returned from his hamstring injury in late-June. He looked very good at first, striking out the first two Brewers batters in the bottom of the first. But then a couple of weak two-out singles (exit velocity of 73.4 mph and 89.1 mph) set the stage for Cub-killer Andrew Vaughn.
Vaughn did indeed kill the Cubs again with a three-run home run off of Imanaga to tie the game in the bottom of the first. It wasn’t a cheapie either. Maybe not hit as hard as Suzuki’s, but it easily cleared the fence at 382 feet. So after one inning, the score was tied 3-3.
The Cubs got a two-out rally of their own going in the second inning after Matt Shaw walked and Justin Turner singled. But Nico Hoerner hit a weak fly ball to end the threat.
Imanaga had a good second inning, but in the third inning he got tagged for a solo home run by Brewers catcher William Contreras on a pitch that was six inches inside. But it was right under Contreras’ hands and he was able to pull it to give the Brewers a 4-3 lead.
Manager Craig Counsell went to Daniel Palencia to finish the third and left him in for the fourth inning. That’s when things went from bad to worse. Once again, with two outs in the fourth, Jackson Churio obliterated a three-run home run to center field off of Palencia to make it 7-3 Brewers.
For those keeping score at home, that seven runs for the Brewers. All of them came on home runs. All of the home runs came after two were out.
Meanwhile, Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who treating this as a bullpen game after starting reliever Aaron Ashby, turned to rookie Jacob Misiorowski to start the third inning. Misiorowski has struggled in the second half as he failed to throw enough strikes, but he managed to get his 102-to-104 mph fastball in the zone just enough to keep the Cubs from scoring.
In the end, the Cubs did nothing off of six Brewers relievers, including Misiorowski. Neither team scored the rest of the way.
So now the Cubs backs are against the wall, needing to win the next three games to keep their season alive. At least they’re returning to Wrigley Field for Games 3 and Game 4 (if necessary). Only 11 percent of teams that have fallen behind 2-0 in a best-of-five series have come back to advance. The Cubs have won three elimination games in a row in a playoff series before, but you probably already knew that.
So situation desperate, but not hopeless. Game three is on Wednesday at 4:08 Central time. If you have any rum to offer Jobu, now is the time to use it.
