NEWSLETTER
THE SPLIT IS GUARANTEED AT A MINIMUM.
That’s a big deal right there – hence the all caps, you see – as now the Cubs cannot leave Milwaukee with anything less than a 3.5 game lead in the Central. And with only a week’s worth of games after this series is over, the road may be too long for the Brewers (or the Cardinals) to come back. Big, big win. Again.
And it was another extra-inning win, too! (Dang, Brewers fans have gotta be crushed right now after their last three games.)
The Cubs were in an early hole, with John Lackey allowing three runs in the first couple innings, including the obligatory two homers. But the bats battled back, eventually taking the lead on a two-run Ben Zobrist single in the top of the fifth, an inning that started with Jon Jay doing this:
Jon Jay had himself an AB pic.twitter.com/hgy0OeZRsV
— Luis M. (@lcm1986) September 23, 2017
The Brewers tied things right back up in the bottom of the frame, though, and it was a bullpen battle from there, and both sides looked really good on that front.
Hector Rondon pitched for the first time since September 8 (elbow inflammation), and looked like his old self. It was extremely encouraging. Mike Montgomery was solid, as always. Brian Duensing was solid.
Carl Edwards Jr. got to play the part of multi-inning Wade Davis tonight, pitching the final 1.2 innings of the game.
In the 10th, the Cubs loaded the bases against Corey Knebel with nobody out, and although Leonys Martin struck out, Tommy La Stella walked to bring home what would ultimately be the winning run. Not the way you want to lose a critical game when you’re trying to come back in the division.
The Brewers very nearly had the tying run at second base with just one out in the bottom of the frame, but Eric Sogard slid slightly off the bag while Addison Russell kept a tag applied, and he was out. Very, very heads up play by Russell, and one more out later, the game was over.
Cubs win again. Magic number down to five. Happy dance time.
