Stellar starting pitching, dazzling defense, and a late push by the Chicago Cubs gave them a 5-0 victory over the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Javier Assad climbed into second place in the National League ERA race with six scoreless innings, and Dansby Swanson showed signs of getting out of his slump with a solo home run. With the series win at Wrigley, the Cubs pull ever closer to the Brewers in the NL Central race.
In a division that should come down to these two teams and the Cincinnati Reds, every game between them counts. Even without Christian Yelich, the Brewers have managed to climb to the top spot in the NL Central. Their standing in that position became ever more precarious after dropping two of three on the road to the Chicago Cubs.
Brewers Blanked by Cubs Pitching
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Javier Assad continued his early season success on Sunday afternoon with six shutout innings for the Chicago Cubs. Working against a lineup that relies heavily on speed and contact, Assad generated weak contact and got timely strikeouts to keep the Brew Crew off the board. Milwaukee had plenty of traffic on the base paths but came up short when it counted, going 0-7 with RISP, stranding a total of eight men on base.
Assad mixed in all six of his pitches well, showing exceptional use of his curveball. The 26-year-old right-hander has sparsely used his curveball this season, but on Sunday, he was able to throw it effectively for strikes to his arm side. Assad’s use of his slider got Milwaukee hitters to chase when down in the count. His high-velocity pitches, however, continue to be the leading cause of his success this season. Javier Assad hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his outings in 2024.
Opposing Assad on the mound for the Brewers was Freddy Peralta. For the first four innings of play Peralta matched Assad, only allowing one base hit. The fifth inning proved to be the difference in the ball game, as Peralta began to surrender hits all over the yard and his ability to strand hitters he walked on base wore thin.
Cubs Offense Comes Alive
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With one out in the inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong reached on an infield single, doubling down on his speed and stealing second base to put a runner in scoring position for the third time in the game. Peralta’s control issues popped up against Miguel Amaya when the Chicago Cubs catcher got hit in the elbow. Nico Hoerner then came up to the plate and squared up a 96 MPH fastball into the right-center gap for a double, allowing PCA and Amaya to get the first runs of the game on the board after a bobble from CF Blake Perkins.
After reaching third on a Mike Tauchman groundout, Hoerner raced home to score the third run of the inning on a spiked curveball that skidded past William Contreras. Peralta finished the inning and ended his day, but was on the hook for his first loss of the season. Peralta finished the day with 5 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 5 K and 6 BB. With the defeat he fell to 3-1.
Despite the hot start to the Chicago Cubs’ season, the struggles of SS Dansby Swanson have been a sore spot defensively and offensively for Chicago. Sunday was hopefully a sign of a changing tide for the former No.1 overall pick, as he made a few incredible plays in the field and hit a solo home run in the sixth inning that gave the Cubs a 4-0 lead.
Swanson made a pair of rangy, quick conversion plays in the hole to keep members of the speedy Brewers batting order off the bases and then later in the game moved glove side and slid to keep the ball in front of him, before pivoting, turning and firing the ball to first on a rope to help out Javier Assad. On a weekend where Swanson was awarded his 2023 Gold Glove, he reminded the Wrigley faithful of what can do with the leather.
After the Chicago Cubs went up 4-0, Christopher Morel added the final insurance run of the afternoon in the seventh. Mike Tauchman singled and reached second on a groundout by Ian Happ, setting up Morel, who had yet to record an official at-bat after walking three times with Peralta on the mound. Morel laced a ball into left-center, and Tauchman came around to score and make it a 5-0 ball game.
Chicago Bullpen Shuts Door on Brewers
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After six innings, Javier Assad was relieved by Yency Almonte. Assad’s final line read 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 3 BB and 4 K. Almonte came in and struck out the side in the top of the seventh, impressing manager Craig Counsell enough to let him pitch the eighth, which he also set down in 1-2-3 fashion.
Daniel Palencia got his number called for the ninth in the non-save situation. Palencia has spent time in AAA this season but with the injuries to the bullpen and the gerrymandering needed to accommodate the starting rotation, Palencia is back with the Chicago Cubs after pitching in 27 games during the 2023 season. He might be here to stay if he can replicate what he did on Sunday afternoon, striking out two and securing the Chicago Cubs a victory and a series win over the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
After this weekend tilt, the Cubs welcome the San Diego Padres for a three-game series starting Monday with Justin Steele making his return to the rotation against former-Cub Yu Darvish. First pitch is at 6:40 PM CST.
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