MILWAUKEE Â— The Cubs arrived in the Brew City on Monday looking to assert themselves in the NL Central.
They’ll head into Wednesday’s finale hoping to remain in striking distance in the division and to avoid something they haven’t done all season: get swept. The Cubs dropped the second game in Milwaukee 9-2 at American Family Field and fell two games behind the Brewers in the division. It was an uncharacteristic loss for the Cubs (62-45) who made uncharacteristic defensive mistakes, squandered scoring opportunities and received hardly any contribution from the top four hitters in the lineup.
To compound things, outfielder Ian Happ exited in the eighth inning after fouling a ball off his foot. He was helped off the field by a trainer and manager Craig Counsell.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s loss to the Brewers (64-43):
Defense, defense, defense
The Cubs’ fielding has been their backbone this season. During the typical offensive dips that can happen in a major-league season, it’s their defense that has been steady and been able to keep them in games.
Tuesday, some lackadaisical play in the field by three of their most reliable defenders cost them outs — but more importantly, two of those mistakes cost them runs. The Cubs committed three errors in the loss, just the second time this season that has happened.
Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, the Brewers led the frame off with a triple from Jackson Chourio on a ball that Pete Crow-Armstrong never seemed to have a good read on, then William Contreras doubled to score him. That prompted Counsell to pull right-handed starter Colin Rea and turn to left-hander Drew Pomeranz against lefty Christian Yelich.
Pomeranz induced a fly ball to Crow-Armstrong who dropped the ball, allowing Yelich to stroll into second and Contreras to reach third. Both runners eventually came in to score and give Milwaukee a three-run lead.
An inning later, with one out and the Cubs trailing 5-2, Contreras hit a liner to former Gold Glover Nico Hoerner at second base. Hoerner appeared to glance over at Blake Perkins at first base as the ball hit his glove and dropped to the ground in the outfield, allowing both players to reach. Yelich drew a walk a batter later to load the bases and then Andrew Vaughn hit his second career grand slam to effectively put the game away.
Defense has been the bread and butter for the Cubs this season. Tuesday, it was their undoing.
Missed chances
The grand slam was the final blow, but the Cubs had their chances to score on Tuesday. In the fourth, trailing by a run, the Cubs had back-to-back singles from Crow-Armstrong and Hoerner to lead off the frame. But Ian Happ grounded out, Dansby Swanson had an 11-pitch strike out and Reese McGuire grounded out on a questionable call.
McGuire hit a soft dribbler that appeared to be to the left of and behind the plate. D.J. Reyburn, the home plate umpire, called the ball fair and Contreras tagged McGuire for the final out.
An inning later, Matt Shaw led the frame off with a double and Kyle Tucker drew a one out walk that looked like a chance for the Cubs to tie the game. Instead, Seiya Suzuki grounded into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play and the Brewers scored three runs in the bottom of the frame.
Hoerner hit his fourth home run of the season — a one-out solo shot to left field that looked like the harbinger of a rally. Happ followed with a double and Swanson singled to give the Cubs runners at the corners with an out and trailing by three.
For a moment, McGuire appeared to have tied up the game when he fouled a ball down the right-field line that looked like it had a chance to get out. Instead, McGuire struck out looking and Shaw popped out to second to end the frame before Vaughn’s big blast.
Top of the order woes
The Cubs’ top four hitters all entered the night with an OPS of .825 or higher. The Brewers’ best hitter, Chourio, had a .785 OPS.
Chourio finished 2-for-3 with a triple before exiting the game with a right hamstring spasm on that extra-base hit.
Michael Busch, Tucker, Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong finished 2-for-11 on the night and collectively are slashing .197/.312/.361 (.673 OPS) since the All-Star break. Slumps happen – but for all four to collectively be struggling, especially in arguably the biggest series of the year thus far, is bad timing for the Cubs.