[ad_1]
MILWAUKEE – Manny Pina scored twice, Eduardo Escobar and Jace Peterson also connected, and the Milwaukee Brewers notched their fourth straight playoff spot with a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night.
The Brewers won for the seventh time in nine games to secure at least one wild card after San Diego and Cincinnati lost earlier today. Milwaukee’s magic number to win the NL Central title is three against St. Louis.
“There will be a bit of celebration tonight,” said Brewers starter and NL Cy Young Award contender Corbin Burnes. But the main celebration will be when we win the division.
Burnes was shaky by his standards on his first start since pitching eight innings in a no-hitting combination a week ago. He allowed three runs and six hits in six innings, striking out 11 strikes.
The right-hander yielded Ian Happ’s 23rd homerun with a man in the fifth. It was the first tour authorized by Burnes since August 6, when San Francisco’s Brandon Belt took it deep.
“You’re not going to be perfect every night, so sometimes that zero to sixths is always an important part of a game that helps you win a ball game,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s what he did tonight. ”
Milwaukee’s backup catcher Pina scored the first point of the night when he sent Justin Steele’s first pitch of the second inning to center. Escobar followed with a solo shot to lead the third, breaking a 1-1 tie.
Burnes left the game with a 3-2 lead thanks to a solo Homer from Peterson to lead the sixth, but the Cubs tied a set later when Willson Contreras, who had a homer stolen by Lorenzo Cain in second, touched Brad Boxberger for a two-out solo shot that made it a 4-4 game.
Pina struck again from the starting point in the eighth, sending a 0-2 slider from Scott Effross (2-1) down the left field line. Kolten Wong added an insurance run later in the inning, leading Pablo Reyes on an infield single.
“I didn’t know if it was fair or rude,” Pina said. “So I was using my body to say, ‘Stay inside! Stay inside! “It was a good swing, a good contact.”
Devin Williams (8-2) threw a scoreless eighth and Josh Hader blocked two runners in the ninth for his 33rd save.
INAMIABLE CONFINED
Saturday marked the second night in a row the Cubs’ enclosure allowed for an eighth inning rally, but Cubs manager David Ross was impressed with how his team kept the pressure on Hader in the ninth, putting the green light in goal position.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win those two nights,” said Ross. “It didn’t turn out and it (stinks) for sure, but for us to have (runners) second and third with a chance to tie this thing in ninth, I was proud.”
The loss was the Cubs ’11th in a row to the Brewers, who have won 15 of the teams’ first 18 games this season and the sixth in a row at American Family Field where they are 1-6 in 2021.
PINEAPPLE POWER
Pina’s multi-home game continued an impressive run for the Brewers backup receiver who took the field on Saturday at 0.310 (18 for 58) with five homers and 22 RBIs in his last 22 games.
“He’s in his best offensive season,” said Counsell. It wasn’t done with batting average, but with power, homers and points. He’s having a great season and tonight he’s finished.
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE
Without the video board posting, the 33,625 fans in attendance on Saturday night might not even have realized Milwaukee had landed a playoff berth.
There was virtually no celebration after Hader took out Patrick Wisdom to end the game other than the usual post-match handshakes to return to the dugout, but the muted response was intentional as the Brewers have chosen to wait until they’ve locked down the NL Central title, which they could do as early as Monday when the Cardinals come to Milwaukee for a four-game streak.
“We put the ability to win the division under our control,” Counsell said. “That’s our goal and we’re sticking to that goal. We know we’re in the playoffs and everyone is happy about it, but we think we’ve earned the right to wait to win this division. ”
TRAINERS ‘ROOM
Cubs: INF Nico Horner arrived in Milwaukee on Saturday and participated in batting practice, but won’t be activated until Sunday, before the Chicago Series Finals against the Brewers. Horner has been away since the end of July with an oblique strain. Ross plans to make Hoerner the everyday shortstop starter in a bid to assess the progress of the 2018 first-round pick, limited to just 39 games due to injury this season.
Brewers: OF Avisail Garcia (back spasms) was ruled out for a third straight game. Counsell had hoped to recover Garcia on Saturday, but after an assessment, medics decided Garcia was not at the point they hoped.
FOLLOWING
The rivals end their 2021 season streak on Sunday when RHP Cubs Adrian Sampson (1-2, 2.53 ERA) take on Milwaukee southpaw Eric Lauer (6-5, 3.10).
[ad_2]
Source link