Chicago Cubs Fall to Milwaukee Brewers 6-3: Recap, Highlights and More

The Chicago Cubs lost the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night by a score of 6-3. This was the Cubs’ fourth loss in a row.

The Chicago Cubs took a tough three-game sweep from the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend. The Pirates are a good baseball team who were able to take advantage of sloppy play by the Cubs. Joe Maddon and company welcomed the Milwaukee Brewers to Wrigley Field for a three-game set beginning on Monday and we saw more of the same.

John Lackey took the mound for the Cubs and ran into some immediate trouble. With one out in the first inning, Lackey allowed a double to Eric Thames, immediately followed by a home run from Ryan Braun.

The Cubs were able to cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI single from Ben Zobrist. Lackey gave that run back in the second, allowing a quick solo home run off of the bat of Jett Bandy. Albert Almora‘s two-run double in the bottom of the second immediately tied the game at 3-3, but the Brewers quickly took the lead back on a Thames solo home run in the third. It was a pretty wild start to this game.

Thames is apparently one of the best hitters in baseball all of a sudden, hitting home runs in five consecutive games for the Brewers. He and Braun in the middle of the lineup are incredibly scary at this point in time.

Lackey was far from perfect for the Cubs in this one, but he was good enough to keep them in the game. Lackey went six innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits. He did allow three home runs.

Pedro Strop came in and pitched a scoreless inning in relief, striking out two. It was great to see Strop pitch a perfect inning, as he has really struggled in recent days.

The Brewers’ dynamic duo of Braun and Thames struck again in the eighth inning, as Braun rocked a RBI double to deep center that scored Thames. After his double, Braun stole third base and scored on a sloppy throw from Cubs catcher Willson Contreras.

The Cubs were able to put together a decent rally in the ninth, but all hopes of a comeback were crushed when Albert Almora grounded into a double play. Not a great showing by the Chicago Cubs on Monday night, but it is a long season. Being 6-7 and losing four straight games is not ideal but they are still an extremely talented team who will figure it out.

Highlights

Ryan Braun with a home run off of John Lackey to get the scoring going.

Kyle Schwarber with an incredible bunt to lead off the game for the Cubs.

Eric Thames is apparently the greatest hitter ever.

Anthony Rizzo gets in on the fun with a great bunt single against the shift.

Three Stars

Ryan Braun, Brewers: 3-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored

Braun has been absolutely killing the Cubs for a while now. He was an absolute force in this game, clearly seeing the ball extremely well. The Cubs must pitch better to Braun if they are going to win this series.

Eric Thames, Brewers: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI and 3 runs scored

Thames is one of the most interesting stories from early in the season. He was a star in the Korean Baseball League prior to this season and is making the most of his opportunity with the Brewers. Thames was a stud on Monday night, helping create a tough middle of the order for the Brewers.

Ben Zobrist, Cubs: 2-4, 1 RBI

Even though they probably do deserve it, I wanted to put one Cubs player here. Zobrist had a couple of early hits, including a clutch two-out RBI in the first. Zobrist is such a proven hitter who the Cubs can always count on in the middle of their lineup.

Next: Bold Predictions for 2017 Cubs

Next Game

The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers will face off in game two of their three-game set on Tuesday. First pitch is at 7:05 pm central time. Brett Anderson will take the mound for the Cubs and he will be opposed by Jimmy Nelson.