Brewers fans swarm Milwaukee George Webb’s for free burger vouchers
The Milwaukee Brewers won a 12th consecutive game triggering a George Webb promise of a free burger. Thousands claimed vouchers for the sandwich.
CHICAGO – Those magical vibes surrounding the Milwaukee Brewers?
They were nowhere to be found at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
A deflating 4-1 setback to the Chicago Cubs in the finale of the teams’ split doubleheader left the Brewers victims of a sweep and losers of two straight games for the first time since July 25 and 26.
Their Central Division rivals, meanwhile, crept two games closer in the standings than they were at the start of the day with the Brewers now ahead by seven games.
“I think we’re in a dang good spot,” said starter Brandon Woodruff. “We’re playing really good baseball and look, you’re not going to win every game. That’s a good team over there. We know it. We’re also a good team.
“We’re not affected by losing two games in a row; that’s just baseball. We’ll come back and be ready to go the next two and see how they play out. We’ve still got a lot of season left.
“Coming off 14 wins in a row, you feel like you can’t lose another one. Then when you lose two in a row, you feel like the world’s falling apart but it’s really not.
“We’re doing just fine.”
BOX SCORE: Cubs 4, Brewers 1
Milwaukee scored a run in the first inning off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon then was held scoreless the rest of the way on only five hits, with the team having now dropped three of four after rattling off a major-league-best and franchise-record 14 consecutive victories.
Woodruff, meanwhile, struggled, needing 94 pitches to navigate 4 â…“ innings while the Cubs took advantage of several lucky bounces to take the air out of their soaring rivals for at least a day.
“They’re disappointed that they didn’t come out on top,” said manager Pat Murphy. “But they also know that they’re going to keep fighting. That’s how they play. Injuries, adversity, all the stuff we’ve faced this year – this was bound to happen.
“It’s how you bounce back from it, how you respond. I believe in this group. We don’t like losing and we didn’t play poorly, but we didn’t do the things that we normally do.”
There was also a spot of bad news on the injury front as shortstop Joey Ortiz suffered a knee contusion, although X-rays were negative. Murphy said it’s unlikely he plays Wednesday as a result.
The Cubs won Game 1, 6-4.
Quick lead for the Brewers
The Brewers fell behind, 5-0, in the matinee before battling back to make it a 5-4 game.
They grabbed a first-inning lead in this one when, with two outs in the first, William Contreras singled, Christian Yelich walked and Andrew Vaughn singled to drive in Contreras to make it 1-0.
Taillon, in his first start off a long stint on the injured list, threw 30 pitches in the frame.
The Cubs responded with two runs against Woodruff in the second, with a leadoff walk to Nico Hoerner starting the trouble.
Hoerner then stole second – Ortiz dropped the throw down from catcher Danny Jansen – and scored on rookie Owen Caissie’s broken-bat, bloop single to left.
Woodruff retired the next two batters, then Michael Busch ripped a shot down the right-field line that caromed off the wall and back onto the field of play as Sal Frelick gave chase.
That turn of events allowed the speedy Caissie to come around and score all the way from first, putting Chicago in front. Busch ended up with a double and went to third on the throw home.
After fanning Ian Happ for the third out, Woodruff had already thrown 56 pitches.
“They did a good job,” Woodruff said. “I didn’t get ahead as good as I wanted to, and typically with the Cubs you’ve got to get Strike 1 and establish the strike zone. If you don’t do that, they do a good job of trying to wait you out a little bit.
“That’s what they did.”
Offense goes cold
Jansen doubled and Frelick beat out an infield single with a headfirst slide into first with two outs in the second, but Caleb Durbin grounded out to let Taillon off the hook.
Taillon then faced the minimum over the ensuing three innings, needing to throw just eight, 10 and 11 pitches in the process.
Woodruff, meanwhile, followed up his first 1-2-3 inning in the third by having to work around a two-out double and walk in the fourth.
He allowed a leadoff single to Happ in the fifth then after striking out Seiya Suzuki he was lifted in favor of Aaron Ashby. The left-hander opened by striking out Pete Crow-Armstrong but then allowed consecutive singles to Carson Kelly and Hoerner as the Cubs increased their advantage to 3-1.
In 4 â…“ innings, Woodruff allowed five hits, three runs and three walks with six strikeouts over a season-high 94 pitches. He took his first loss of the season, falling to 4-1, while the Brewers suffered their first setback of the season with the right-hander on the mound (7-1).
“I think it was a good experience for him to go out there and have to grind,” said Murphy. “He had two leadoff walks and one of them ended up hurting us. He had a couple things go against him. So, he had to battle every pitch.
“He pitched great but he just didn’t have things go his way. It’s not a typical outing but I think in this environment, I thought he showed signs of, ‘Yeah, I’m a big-time pitcher.’ Got his pitch count up and wanted to stay out there.”
Yelich lined a one-out single to left-center in the sixth to halt Taillon’s string of consecutive batters retired at 11, but Vaughn and Isaac Collins both flew out.
The deficit grows in the sixth
The Cubs got another fortuitous bounce when Matt Shaw scalded a ball down the left-field line with one out in the sixth and it bounced far enough away from Yelich that Shaw ended up with a triple.
Busch, up next, hit a sharp grounder to Brice Turang at second with the infield in. Turang immediately came home, but his throw was high and Shaw slid in for a 4-1 Chicago lead.
With Taillon out, Turang and Ortiz each singled off Chicago reliever Taylor Rogers to put runners on the corners with one out in the seventh.
Frelick followed with a fly ball to medium-depth right field. Willi Castro made the catch then fired a strike home to cut down a sliding Turang for a killer of a double play.
“That was a great throw,” Murphy said. “Credit Castro. That was an infielder playing outfield, got behind the ball the way you’re supposed to and threw a strike. We’ve got one of our best runners running and it was bang-bang.
“Credit to the Cubs, how they played all day today.”
With the losses, the Brewers dropped to 5-6 against the Cubs this season with two games left to play against each other.
“Goodness gracious, we’ve played such good baseball here of late,” Woodruff said. “Yeah, the media kind of flips that script for us a little bit but in the room we’ve got the same hungry guys, grinder-type guys, and that’s what it’ll always be for us.
“We’ll be ready to go tomorrow and take it from there.”
What are the Cubs thinking?
“They’re playing great baseball,” Taillon said. “They’ve been on, like, a generational run. But to win two games in one day against a team that that’s that good, against some good arms, that’s big, and hopefully it’s something we can build off and just concern ourselves with ourselves.”
What time is the Brewers game against the Cubs?
7:05 p.m. CT.
What channel is the Brewers game on tonight?
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and FOX 6.
Brewers lineupSal Frelick CFCaleb Durbin 3BWilliam Contreras DHChristian Yelich LFAndrew Vaughn 1BIsaac Collins RFBrice Turang 2BDanny Jansen CJoey Ortiz SSCubs lineupMichael Busch 1BIan Happ LFSeiya Suzuki DHPete Crow-Armstrong CFCarson Kelly CNico Hoerner 2BOwen Caissie RFDansby Swanson SSMatt Shaw 3BBrewers schedule
Brewers at Cubs, Aug. 20, 7:05 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Jacob Misiorowski (4-1, 3.89) vs. Chicago RHP Colin Rea (9-5, 3.99). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin, Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Cubs, Aug. 21, 1:20 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.48) vs. Chicago LHP Shota Imanaga (8-5, 3.06). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin, Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.