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Cubs sign Jeffress to free agent deal

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Jeremy Jeffress (File Photo)

Former Milwaukee Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress signed a free agent deal with the rival Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Jeffress had three separate stints with the Brewers before they finally released him on September 1, 2019.  He reportedly signed a major-league contract worth $850,000 and has games-pitched incentives that could add as much as another $200,000.

Jeffress started the 2019 season on the injured list after experiencing shoulder weakness.  He ended up appearing in 48 games, posting a 5.02 ERA.

Jeffress was a first-round draft pick of the Brewers in 2006 and was traded to Kansas City in the 2010 deal that brought Zach Greinke to Milwaukee.  His best season came in 2018 when he went 8-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 73 games with 15 saves.  He also made the all-star team that season.

Jeffress is the second former Brewers player to sign with the Cubs.  They also added utility infielder Hernan Perez.

Cubs break it open late, double up Brewers 10-5

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The Chicago Cubs did a number on the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen on Thursday night, pulling out a 10-5 victory in the opener of a four-game series at Miller Park.

Kyle Schwarber had the big blow, a grand slam in the sixth off of Drew Pomeranz as the Cubs went from a 4-4 tie to a 9-4 lead.

Wilson Contreras went 4-for-5 with a homer and an RBI double in the win.  David Bote added a solo shot in the ninth as the Cubs won their third straight and increased their Wild Card lead to five games over the Brewers.

Jose Quintana earned the victory, allowing four runs over five innings, improving to 13-8.

Hernan Perez, Yasmani Grandal and Cory Spangenberg clubbed home runs for the Brewers in the loss.

The Brewers send Zach Davies to the mound in game two of the series tonight against Chicago’s Cole Hamels.

Thames powers Brewers past Astros

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Eric Thames

Eric Thames’ three-run homer capped a four-run third inning and the Milwaukee Brewers went on to double up the Astros 4-2 at Miller Park.  Thames homer came off of Houston starter Zach Greinke.  Ryan Braun’s RBI single tied it at one for the Brewers, before Thames long ball.

Jordan Lyles continued his strong performance on the mound, throwing 6 1/3 innings.  Drew Pomeranz followed with  1 2/3 innings of solid relief before Josh Hader finished up in the 9th for his 28th save.

Lyles (10-8), surrendered six hits, struck out two and didn’t issue a walk.  His ERA in seven starts for the Brewers, dropped to 2.56.

With the Brewers leading 4-1 in the sixth, Houston’s Alex Bregman clubbed a solo homer to center to make it 4-2 to close out the scoring.

The Brewers have the day off on Wednesday before opening a crucial four-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park on Thursday night.  Chase Anderson is scheduled to face Jose Quintana in the series opener. [Read more…]

Brewers drop 2 of 3 in Chicago

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Appearing on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” for the first time in more than 5 1/2 years, the Milwaukee Brewers fell to the division rival Chicago Cubs 4-1 at Wrigley Field.

The Brewers won the series opener 7-0 on Friday, then dropped the next two.

Jhoulys Chacin brought a 2-2 record and 1.59 ERA into Sunday nights start against the Cubs but took the loss.  Chacin allowed two runs on six hits in six innings of work.

The Brewers scored their only run in the fourth inning when Jesus Aguilar singled home Christian Yelich.

Jon Lester gave up only one unearned run for Chicago, pitching into the seventh and striking out six to earn the win.  Kris Bryant had a three hit night for the Cubs, including a two-run home run off of Adrian Houser in the seventh.

The Brewers played without starting left fielder Ryan Braun, who was held out of the lineup with soreness in his left hamstring.  Braun did make a pinch hit appearance in the top of the 7th but struck out.

The Brewers open a four-game series against the Phillies in Philadelphia tonight.  Freddy Peralta (2-1, 6.75 ERA) gets the start for the Brewers.  Aaron Nola (3-0, 4.57) goes for the Phillies.

 

Brewers land knockout punch on Quintana

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Jose Quintana entered Friday’s game against Milwaukee with a 6-2 record and a 1.62 ERA in 11 starts.  Seven of those 11 starts came last season, where Quintana went 4-1 with a 2.13 ERA.  The Brewers, for at least one night, made Quintana pay.

The Brewers scored eight runs on eight hits in just three innings, rolling to a 13-10 win over the Chicago Cubs in their series opener at Miller Park.

Ryan Braun, Hernan Perez and Yasmani Grandal all clubbed home runs off of Quintana.  Orlando Arcia and Eric Thames also went yard for the Brewers, who have won nine of their last 12 games against the Cubs dating back to last season. [Read more…]

Brewers back within 1-game of Cubs in Central

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Veteran Curtis Granderson had three hits, including a home run to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.

Granderson just missed a first-inning home run, settling for a triple.  He finished a double shy of the cycle.

Lorenzo Cain also had three hits as the Brewers opened their lead on St. Louis for the top National Wild Card position to 2 1/2 games.

Khris Bryant doubled home the Cubs’ only run in the fifth to cut the Brewers lead to 2-1.

Josh Hader earned the victory in relief, while Kyle Hendricks took the loss.

The Brewers have the day off on Thursday, while the Cubs boarded a plane and flew to Washington, D.C. after the game.  They’ll face the Nationals in a makeup game from last weekend.  After that game, the Cubs will fly back to Chicago to face the Reds in a three-game weekend series at Wrigley Field.

Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 0.00) will pitch for the Brewers on Friday night,  the Pirates will go with Chris Archer (4-7, 4.56).

 

Quintana continues his dominance of Milwaukee

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Jose Quintana’s dominance of the Milwaukee Brewers continued on Tuesday night when he blanked the Brewers for six-plus innings on three hits in a 3-0 Cubs victory.

In nine attempts since Quintana came to the Cubs in the middle of last season, the Brewers have managed to win just once, a 7-0 win back on Aug. 14 at Wrigley Field.  Take that game away and Quintana is 7-0 with a 0.81 earned run average in the other eight outings.

What’s puzzling for the Brewers is that Quintana has a 4.54 ERA for the season.  He earned his 13th win overall.

Victor Caratini had a RBI single in the second and a run scoring double in the 7th as the Cubs extended their lead over the Brewers to two games in the National League Central. [Read more…]

Brewers climb to within one game of Cubs in Central

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Mike Moustakas scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 in Chicago on Monday night.

Jonathan Schoop and Orlando Arcia also drove in runs for the Brewers, who climbed to within one-game of Chicago for the Central Division lead.

The Brewers have now won four straight games and 10 of their last 12, while the Cubs have dropped three straight.

After a slow start for Cubs starter Jon Lester, he was in control, retiring the first two hitters in the sixth inning.  But that’s when Lester started to suffer lower back stiffness, allowing a single to Moustakas and a double to Erik Kratz.

The Cubs went to Carl Edwards Jr., who uncorked a wild pitch on the very first pitch, allowing Moustakas to score what turned out to be the game winning run.

Josh Hader took over for the Brewers in the seventh inning and struck out all six batters he faced.  Jeremy Jeffress came on to save it for the Brewers in the ninth.

The Brewers and Cubs play game two of their series at Wrigley Field tonight.  Jhoulys Chacin (14-6, 3.59) goes for the Brewers.  Jose Quintana (12-9, 4.14) gets the nod for the Cubs.

 

Davies solid in his return as the Brewers beat the Cubs

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Zach Davies made his first start in a major league game since May 29 and he held the Chicago Cubs to a run on four hits in five innings.  Davies didn’t factor into the decision, but he helped the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cubs 4-3 in their series opener at Miller Park.

Shoulder and back issues forced Davies to miss 90 games.  When he took the mound on Monday, he did so with a 2-5 record and a 5.23 ERA.

The Brewers fell behind 3-2 in the 8th when Anthony Rizzo clubbed a two-run home run off of lefty Josh Hader.  But the Brewers got one back in the 8th when Mike Moustakas drew a bases loaded walk to tie the score at 3-3.

The Brewers loaded the bases again in the 9th with one out and NL Player of the Week Christian Yelich at the plate.  Yelich slapped a hard ground ball to third.  Khris Bryant fielded it cleanly, but instead of going home for the force out, he went back to step on third for out number two, then fired across the infield to try to double up Yelich to get out of the inning.  But Yelich had something else in mind, legging it out for a fielder’s choice RBI and the Brewers 10th walk-off win of the season.

After struggling in day games earlier this season, Monday’s win was their sixth straight in daylight.  They had dropped nine in-a-row earlier.

The win moved the Brewers to within four games of the division leading Cubs.  The two teams meet again tonight at Miller Park.  Wade Miley (2-2, 2.18) goes for the Brewers.  Mike Montgomery (4-4, 3.82) goes for Chicago.

 

Cubs return the favor to the Brewers and earn a 2-game series split

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Junior Guerra – File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

One day after being blanked by the rival Milwaukee, the Chicago Cubs responded by beating the Brewers 8-4 on Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Junior Guerra entered the game with a career 1.74 ERA against the Cubs, but he allowed seven runs and nine hits before departing in the fourth.

Ryan Braun, who clubbed two home runs just one day earlier, left Wednesday’s game with a tight right ribcage.  It comes after Braun had been swinging a hot bat.  He had been hitting .388 with four HR’s and 12 RBI over the last 16 games.

The Cubs scored four runs in the first three innings against Guerra.  Anthony Rizzo lined a two-run home run in the first.  Jason Heyward doubled in a run in the  third, followed by David Bote scoring on a Guerra wild pitch to make it 4-0. [Read more…]