Photo by MLB (Major League Baseball)
In the game of baseball, games tend to be a function of trends. A slow day from the offense and the pitchers having your number on the mound means for a game decided by the first blow, which team will plate a run first. What seemed like a day in which it would have an anticlimactic finish turned out to be one of the memorable moments of the season.
The Starters
It was a slow burning start to the game as both Brewers and Cubs starters alike had good days on the mound. Cubs starter David Peterson had been sputtering as of late and furthermore the season as a whole but had managed to produce a clean manageable game for the Cubs as he threw four and a third innings with only one earned run allowed. Allowing a first inning rbi single for Brice Turang. He gave up six hits, three walks and four strikeouts. While the crew were heavy on the base paths throughout the game, Peterson was able to work out the jams created by the crew.
Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski the frontrunner for the NL Cy Young this year came into the game posting a 1.97 ERA on the season but looking to avenge his last start vs the Cubs on September 2nd where they managed to score five runs (all earned) off of Misiorowski and drive him out of the game after four innings. He would atone for the previous game fully by pitching a gem in which he would finish off six innings and a third with only one earned run given up on an rbi single by Michael Busch and posting nine strikeouts and only giving up four hits and two walks for just over a one whip for the game.
Bullpen Affairs
Both pitchers would turnover to the bullpens, as for the Cubs that is a startling sound, the Cubs have been faced with bullpen issues all season and more recently facing some pressure as well. Trent Thornton would enter the game in the fifth trying to finish off the inning as David Peterson would exit with one out and Trent Thornton would have no issues after giving up one hit but closing out the side, after Thornton, Aaron Civale would enter in the sixth as he would finish off two innings in which he didn’t allow a single baserunner striking out four and turning the ball over to Ryan Rolison in the eighth managing to work through a runners on second and first jam to turn the ball over to Jacob Webb.
On the other side of the ball after Jacob Misiorowski finished up his six and a third innings Chad Patrick would enter and run into trouble, after recording an out he would allow the next two to get on base and be replaced by Aaron Ashby. Upon entering would generate a first pitch flyout to center off the bat of Pete Crow Armstrong. In the eighth Antonio Sentazela would enter, Sentazela has struggled so far since being acquired at the deadline by the Brewers posting a 5.37 ERA with the crew across 16 appearances, he would work a one, two and three inning in the eighth.
An Electrifying Finish
In the ninth inning the Brewers would bring along their closer Trevor Megill. Megill would look to hold the Cubs to a tie bringing the walkoff scenario to the plate for the Brewers in the ninth. Upon entering he would give up a single to Nico Hoerner, followed by an infield single by Cubs rookie Pedro Ramirez, after striking out Matt Shaw would walk Michael Conforto to bring it to bases loaded one out for the Chicago Cubs. In the nine hole off the bench the cubs would bring in Carson Kelly who laced a double off the wall in right center and would lead to two runs scoring to give the Cubs the lead three to one, reliever D.L Hall would enter and get out of the inning preventing any further damage.
In the bottom of the ninth Jacob Webb, a Cubs deadline bullpen addition would enter. Among some ups and downs since being acquired, Webb has been given the opportunity to win the closing job from manager Craig Counsell, and he got off to a fast start recording the first two outs without any pushback. It is then that Christian Yelich entered from the bench batting for Cooper Pratt and after getting down 0-2 he would rip a single into right field and bring the tying run to the plate in Jackson Chourio. On the second pitch of the at bat Chourio would lift a ball over the fence in left field, a no doubt shot.
Jackson Chourio took his time out of the box knowing he had just tied the game. Jacob Webb would go on to finish the inning.
Top of the ninth D.L Hall would stay in the game and with Seiya Suzuki as the runner on second to lead off the inning Alex Bregman would lift a ball to left center fielded by Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell who fired a bullet to third baseman David Hamilton. Upon tagging up from second, Suzuki would overslide the bag and the moment Hamilton noticed Suzuki’s foot come off the bag he would apply the tag to double up on the fly ball. Next batter Michael Busch would draw the walk before Hall finished off the side.
It didn’t take much time for the brewers to finish off the game as Turang the runner on second base would be followed by an out made by Jake Bauers, a walk by William Contreras and a bloop fly by Sal Frelick that would drop to load the bases, and after a mound visit that would see manager Pat Murphy smiling ear to ear as he talked to his rookie outfielder Luis Lara, Lara would rip a line drive single into left field that would drive in the winning run.
Helping the red hot Brewers to a league’s best 90-56 record and push the Brewers to a further nine game division lead and two and a half NL lead over the Dodgers.