CHICAGO - The Brewers were one bad second away from a full-blown disaster in shallow left field. Instead, they walked out of Wrigley Field with a win, a scare, and a little more breathing room in the NL Central.
Christian Yelich’s go-ahead, two-run homer finished a four-run sixth, William Contreras added two big doubles, and Joey Ortiz put things out of reach with a two-run blast in the eighth as Milwaukee rallied past the Cubs, 9-4, on Tuesday.
That comeback mattered in a big way. The Brewers erased a 3-0 deficit after a messy fourth inning, picked up their 36th comeback win, and pushed their division lead over Chicago to eight games with 23 left to play.
Five more meetings between the clubs are still coming over the next eight days, and Milwaukee already owns the season-series edge at 5-3. Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson are lined up to start the next two games.
“I was asked the question last night if you think your guys can bounce back,” manager Pat Murphy said, pointing back to Monday’s 17-3 loss in the opener. “I think they answered it for you.”
The game’s tensest moment came in the bottom of the sixth, when left fielder Jackson Chourio, shortstop Cooper Pratt and third baseman Ortiz all sprinted toward a Michael Busch pop-up in shallow left. The ball dropped for a double after the three Brewers collided, and Pratt seemed to absorb the worst of it.
Trainers rushed out immediately, and Milwaukee had to wait through a nervous few seconds before all three stayed in the game.
“I think everyone wanted it, which is a good thing,” said Ortiz. “Playing here, it can get loud and you don’t hear anything.
… ‘Coop’ looked like he was hurting pretty bad. Making sure he stays on the field is pretty important, so it was good that everyone was all right.
Hopefully we won’t do that again.”
Yelich said he knows exactly how tricky that part of Wrigley can be.
“I’ve ‘zooed’ my fair share out here on some of those,” said Yelich, earning bonus points for using the word zoo as a verb. “I know it can be tough.”
Murphy said the ballpark’s noise and the Brewers’ makeup helped create the mess.
“That’s why this place is such a home-field advantage,” Murphy said. “It’s so loud, and we’ve got to get used to that.
We’ve got [two 22-year-olds] and a guy so talented he’s going to go after every ball. Most third basemen, you’re not even going to get there.
It’s the perfect storm. I think it’s the left fielder’s ball, and I think he catches it, but it’s hard to hear you call anybody off.”
Milwaukee’s bullpen handled the rest, blanking Chicago over 5 1/3 innings. JoJo Romero, activated from the injured list earlier in the day for his Brewers debut, helped protect the lead in the sixth, and Abner Uribe worked a scoreless seventh in his own return from the IL.
The Brewers also got a useful outing from Robert Gasser, who didn’t finish the fifth but earned praise from Murphy, including a mound visit that turned into a quick pep talk. The night, though, belonged to the offense and to a game that kept swinging back and forth as both defenses struggled.
Chicago jumped ahead 3-0 in a shaky third for Milwaukee’s defense. The Brewers answered in the sixth against Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia, who inherited a 3-1 lead from Matthew Boyd and immediately balked home a run. Andrew Vaughn followed with a tying double into the right-field corner that Seiya Suzuki couldn’t corral.
That set the stage for Yelich, who launched his two-run homer into the right-center bleachers for his first road home run since Aug. 10 at San Diego.
Murphy had already decided to play him despite Yelich having sat some starts lately against left-handed pitchers. Coming off Monday’s blowout, the Brewers’ unofficial captain was in the lineup, and he delivered.
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