Brewers Triumph Over Cubs Despite Misiorowski’s Struggles

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski faced a challenging night at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. The 24-year-old, a Cy Young Award hopeful, had not allowed more than three earned runs in a game all season. On Wednesday night, however, the Cubs made him work hard.

Misiorowski threw 92 pitches over four innings, conceding a season-high five earned runs on five hits and four walks. Despite his struggles, the Brewers managed a 9-5 victory over the Cubs, wasting the offensive efforts against Misiorowski.

“It was a pass the line night against Misiorowski, and I thought it was a pretty darn good job,” said manager Craig Counsell. “Their bullpen pitched very well and kind of put the game in order. I thought we kind of swung the bats better than the results, but their bullpen did a really nice job.”

Cubs’ starter David Peterson had difficulties, giving up a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Alex Bregman retaliated with a two-run home run in the bottom half. The lead changed hands multiple times in the first two innings as both teams saw offensive successes. Bregman also added a two-run single in the second inning, following Tyrone Taylor’s RBI single.

“I thought the guys did a good job of battling and trying to take some good swings on good pitches, and when the ball’s out of the zone, not swing,” said Bregman. “Just didn’t do enough after that. They’ve got a really good ball club over there, and it takes execution on our end to win these kinds of games, and we didn’t execute in all phases of the game the way that we should have today.”

Misiorowski looked on as Chicago’s Tyrone Taylor hit a one-run single during the second inning. The Cubs, now at 78-62, have experienced a lack of support from their pitching staff recently. Peterson left the game after allowing six runs and seven hits over 3 2/3 innings, accompanied by four walks and four strikeouts.

There was kind of a mixed bag with the stuff, just felt like I wasn’t getting ahead of hitters the way that I needed to, and the way that I usually do, and wasn’t executing to the level that I have been recently, Peterson said. So, credit to them. They put up good at-bats. But you get behind in counts, and the pitch count goes up and found ourselves in the spot that we were in.

A highlight for the Cubs came with Nico Hoerner’s impressive diving catch in shallow left field. With the bases loaded, he kept them within one run of the Brewers by covering 63 feet at 27.8 feet per second to make the play.

“Oh, a huge play,” Bregman commented. “Obviously an unbelievable defender and making a clutch play is huge, especially in that spot.”

Back-to-back losses have dimmed the Cubs’ hopes of catching the first-place Brewers, now nine games ahead in the division. Although the bullpen didn’t collapse on Wednesday, some key relievers struggled with their performance.

Daniel Palencia, pitching for the first time back-to-back after an injury, allowed one run on two hits and a knee tweak. Despite a mid-inning check, he continued playing. In a tense moment, closer Jacob Webb was hit by a 102.5 mph liner off his right forearm, causing significant pain. Postgame, X-rays showed no fractures, according to Counsell.