The Cubs are trying to keep Tuesday from turning into another gut punch.
After another blown lead, Chicago heads into Game 2 against the Brewers needing to avoid a series loss and get back in front in the Wild Card race. They’ll do it at American Family Field, with first pitch set for 6:40 PM CT on Marquee Sports Network and 104.3 The Score.
Craig Counsell is shaking up the lineup a bit, and the biggest wrinkle is Tyrone Taylor getting his first-ever start at designated hitter. Taylor has quietly been rolling lately, with hits in five straight games and extra-base hits in three of those.
With a right-handed starter on the mound, Ian Happ slides back into left field, while Matt Shaw stays at second and Alex Bregman remains at third. That leaves Pedro Ramírez on the bench for this one.
The rest of the Cubs’ order is built around the usual top-end punch: Pete Crow-Armstrong leads off in center, Seiya Suzuki hits second as the DH, and Michael Busch returns to first base after resting in the opener. Nico Hoerner bats fifth, followed by Happ, Shaw, Taylor and Miguel Amaya behind the plate. Amaya is back after sitting the last two games for Carson Kelly, though he’s been in a rougher stretch lately with six strikeouts over the past couple of weeks.
On the other side, Milwaukee’s lineup brings Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, Andrew Vaughn, William Contreras and Gary Sanchez through the heart of it, with Luis Lara, Joey Ortiz, Garrett Mitchell and Cooper Pratt filling out the bottom.
The mound matchup gives this one plenty of intrigue. David Peterson is coming off one of his roughest outings in weeks, and it came against these same Brewers.
He gave up six earned runs on seven hits, lasted just 3.2 innings and walked four. That kind of contact profile can be dangerous against a Milwaukee team that does a lot of its damage by putting balls in play and grinding through innings.
Still, Peterson has shown he can settle in against this club. On June 27, he held the Brewers to two earned runs, and the Cubs will be hoping for something closer to that version tonight.
Then there’s Jacob Misiorowski, who keeps looking like a serious Cy Young contender with a 1.97 ERA. He brings pure velocity and a miss-bat profile that jumps off the page: a 37.5 percent whiff rate and a 38.3 percent strikeout rate.
The Cubs did get to him last week, though, tagging him for five earned runs and four walks. With Chicago’s patient approach, the path here is pretty clear - make him work, run up the pitch count, and see if the Brewers’ young arm can be pushed out of rhythm again.
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