The Cubs kept making a game of it, but couldn’t quite get all the way back.
Adrian Sampson didn’t pitch horribly today, but his lack of efficiency led to a very early pull (3.1 innings, 61 pitches, lineup a few batters from turning over to the third time through). Sean Newcomb, by contrast, was truly brutal from there, and you increasingly wonder how long the leash will be for a guy with two very good pitches that he can’t seem to locate consistently enough to actually have success with them.
Luke Farrell, who stuck around after his fill-in start, threw 2.2 innings of passable relief, and Rowan Wick had a bounce-back inning to at least give the Cubs’ bats a chance of coming back.
The two biggest Cubs blows came on two-run homers from Nico Hoerner in the 5th:
And Franmil Reyes in the 9th:
The Cubs brought the tying run to the plate in the 9th, with the Brewers bringing in closer Devin Williams, but Yan Gomes struck out, and Willson Contreras grounded into a double-play to end it.