Game Recap: PCA, Suzuki spark Cubs past Brewers

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 7 hours ago

CHICAGO - There may not be a tougher stretch of starting pitching than what the Chicago Cubs (45-28) have seen the past two weeks, as they have seen arguably six of the game's best arms during that time. Yet, here they are, sitting at a season-high 17 games above .500 and have stretched their division lead to a season-high six games as this team continues to find ways to win games.

In what could go down as one of the more pivotal series of the young season, the Cubs welcomed the Milwaukee Brewers (39-35) to Wrigley Field for what is a massive three-game homestand. This is one of those series where, if the Cubs can take care of their business, they can essentially put the Brewers in a gigantic hole, whereas the Brewers could pull within 2.5 games by the end of the series.

One thing we do know is that the Brewers won't get any closer than 4.5 games by the time the series ends, as the Cubs battled back from an early deficit to top the Brewers 5-3 in game one of this series. The Cubs have been winning games in a variety of ways this season, but this was one of those games where they had the pitching, the hitting, and, of course, the defense, as this was a complete game effort.

Ben Brown continues to be one of the bigger question marks for this team, as you never know what you are going to get from start to start. Should the Cubs trade for a starter at the deadline, you have to wonder if his spot will be safe or if the Cubs will move him to the pen at some point. Despite his struggles, the Brewers are one of those teams where he has pitched well against, and that continued on Tuesday.

Despite laboring through five innings, with his fifth and final inning featuring numerous high-stress moments, Brown did what he had to do, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out five. Both those runs came on one swing as Rhys Hoskins took Brown deep to begin the second and put the Brewers on top 2-0.

Expecting this to be another tightly contested series, Chad Patrick had the ball for the Brewers, as this is another tough starting pitcher for the Cubs to solve. Despite his 3-7 record thus far, Patrick has a 3.50 ERA and is seen as one of the favorites to win the rookie of the year this season.

He was very good throughout his outing as he allowed a Matt Shaw double in the second to pull the Cubs within 2-1, but apart from that the Cubs were far too aggressive against him which led to the Brewers holding their 2-1 lead for a large chunk of this game. Not only was Patrick holding his own on the mound, but the Brewers had their chances to break things open as they had runners in scoring position in three straight innings, only to come away empty.

Their best shot to extend the lead came in the fourth when Isaac Collins doubled to start things off ahead of a Brice Turang walk as the Brewers had two runners on and no outs before Brown and the defense escaped without any damage. That was the turning point of the game as the Cubs lineup flipped over for a third time in the fifth inning, and that is when they got after Patrick.

What started with a one-out walk to Ian Happ was followed by a Kyle Tucker double, and suddenly the go-ahead run was standing at second base. Two pitches later, Seiya Suzuki put the Cubs on top for good as he unloaded for his 18th homer off of Patrick, putting the Cubs in front 4-2 and paving the way for their bullpen to lock things down.

As difficult as things were for the Cubs' pen earlier this season, this has been the best bullpen in baseball for nearly two months and has posted an ERA below 1.00 over their past 30 games. The addition of Genesis Cabrera has been a reason for that, as he has given the Cubs a second lefty in the pen.

This was one of those games where Cabrera wasn't at his best as he allowed a pair of singles to Turang and Joey Ortiz three batters into the inning, with the Ortiz single pulling the Brewers within 4-3. Ortiz would find himself the victim of a double play later in the inning as Carson Kelly capped off a strikeout, throw-out double play to end the scoring threat.

That was followed by a scoreless frame from Brad Keller before the Cubs turned to Caleb Thielbar to pitch the eighth. When you talk about a pitcher who should be considered for comeback player of the year, Thielbar has to be at the top of that list as he has pitched to a 1.69 ERA through 31 games, including 17 straight scoreless appearances.

That continued on Tuesday as Thielbar twirled another scoreless frame with a pair of strikeouts and was also bailed out by Pete Crow-Armstrong, who made an incredible diving catch to take extra bases from Turang. Speaking of Crow-Armstrong, he is more than just a defensive whiz as he unloaded on a Rob Zastryzny fastball in the bottom of the eighth and launched it 452 feet to right for his 19th blast of the season, and pushed the Cubs' lead to 5-3.

Chicago wouldn't need any more offense as Daniel Palencia locked down his seventh save of the season by tossing a scoreless ninth as the Cubs improve to 3-1 versus the Brewers this season with a 5-3 win. Chicago had eight hits in the game, with Tucker leading the way with three. The Cubs also struck out 10 batters, showing why they are one of the best teams in all of baseball.