The Brewers had every reason to hate how Sunday ended, but the final punch landed even harder because of who delivered it and where the noise came from.
American Family Field has long been labeled “Wrigley North” when the Cubs roll into Milwaukee, though that nickname has never really fit cleanly. The Brewers beat Chicago in Game 5 of the NLDS in this same building less than a year ago. Still, every so often the Cubs bring enough bodies and volume to make the place feel flipped on its head.
That happened over the weekend. After two entertaining games opened a crucial late-June series, the NL Central rivals met Sunday with the rubber match hanging in the balance. The first two nights leaned Milwaukee’s way in the stands, but the back end of the finale belonged to Chicago’s crowd.
Cubs fans were loud all afternoon, and the biggest eruption came on the final play - the kind of crowd pop that turns a loss into a gut punch. As one reaction put it: “This is one of the loudest crowd pops at an away stadium I’ve heard lol”
It was a rough scene for Milwaukee, especially with Gary Sánchez coming up short in that bases-loaded, extra-innings spot against Jordan Wicks, who is on the Cubs’ roster by default more than merit. The ending stung, but it also fit the tone of this rivalry: tense, noisy and very much alive.
Even with that series loss in Milwaukee, the Brewers still hold the edge where it matters most. The Cubs’ big week - helped along mostly by a laughable collapse from the Mets - hasn’t changed the bigger picture. Milwaukee still leads Chicago by 5.5 games in the NL Central, owns an 80-run advantage in run differential and sits four spots ahead in FanSided’s latest MLB power rankings.
The Brewers also swept the Cubs at Wrigley Field just last month, the first time in a half-decade they’d done that. So while Chicago grabbed this one, Milwaukee still leads the season series 4-2 with seven games left between the clubs.
And the next stretch is a big one. The teams won’t meet again until August 31, when the Brewers head to Chicago for a four-game series to open the final month of the regular season. Then comes a three-game set in Milwaukee the following week, leaving them to face each other seven times in 10 days to start September.
There’s plenty of baseball left before then, but that run figures to say a lot about both teams. For now, Cubs fans get to enjoy the roar they brought to Milwaukee. The Brewers will be waiting to see if that energy still holds when the games start to matter most.
In Other News...
Logan Henderson Just Gave The Brewers Rotation A Much Needed Sign
Logan Hendersons first rehab start for Triple-A Nashville offered the Brewers exactly the kind of early encouragement they were hoping for after his low back strain sidelined him in late May. The right-hander worked three perfect innings, struck out seven and was lifted in the fourth after throwing 50 pitches, a sharp enough outing to suggest his stuff is still playing like it did before the injury interrupted his momentum.
Before getting hurt, Henderson had given Milwaukee a legitimate lift with a 2.74 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 23 innings, and the club has plenty of reason to keep tracking his recovery closely. His fastball was also sitting near his season level, another reassuring sign as he works his way back toward rejoining the rotation picture. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Let Cubs Steal Another Tight One At Home
A tight home series ended the way too many Brewers-Cubs games seem to lately, with Chicago finding just enough at the end to leave Milwaukee wanting more. The Cubs pulled out a 4-3 win in 10 innings in the finale, and the game had the sort of familiar tension that made every pitch feel heavier once the clubs were settled into a one-run battle.
Milwaukee did have its moments, including Gary Sanchez's home run that gave the home side an early spark, but the game tilted in the extra frame when Chicago pieced together a three-run burst. Jacob Webb picked up the win for the Cubs, while Jordan Wicks closed it out for Milwaukee after the Brewers' last chance fell short in a sequence that summed up how close this one stayed right until the end. [Read more 🡒]
One Familiar Arm Changed Everything For The Brewers This Week
The Brewers spent the week moving through six games against the Reds and Cubs, and the difference between a solid stretch and a frustrating one kept coming back to the same place: the mound. Milwaukee went 4-2 overall, with Brandon Woodruffs starts helping stabilize a rotation that needed a lift, while Joel Kuhnel handled the late innings when the Brewers had a lead to protect. Add in timely offense from Jake Bauers, William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell, and it was the kind of trip that hinted at how dangerous this club can be when pitching and bats line up at the same time.
The challenge now is figuring out whether that balance can hold once the schedule gets less forgiving. The Brewers got quality work from multiple arms against two division rivals, including a strong outing from Jacob Misiorowski and another scoreless turn from Woodruff later in the week, but they also saw how quickly a game can slip away when the bullpen has to cover for a starters exit. For a team trying to stack wins, the encouraging part is clear enough. The harder part is whether this week was a glimpse of whats coming, or just the latest reminder that the margin is still thin. [Read more 🡒]