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RecklessRecap:Brewers Series

by Michael Cotton

The Cubs lost to the Reds, but they only played one game and I don't really care that much about it to bother. Let's move on to the Brewers who the Cubs just got done playing. 

Game 1:

The Handsome Youngsters finally started playing like the Cubs we were hoping to see. Up in Milwaukee, they put together a 3-1 series against the Drunks that allowed every Cubes Fan let out a sigh of relief. 

The Brewers management let out a sigh of relief as well. After 45 thousand showed up for opening day at Miller Park, attendance dropped to 27K, 27K, and 24K for the next three games; 2 vs Cardinals, 1 vs Cubs. But Milwaukee let it be known that Chicagoans would not be granted the opportunity to buy tickets and Chicago responded by heading to Milwaukee in droves. The three games over the weekend were 37K, 43K,  and  39K. The smart money tells people they aren't allowed to come. 

Game 1:

Thursday was a nice one by Jon Lester as he threw 6 innings of 3 hit ball with 6 strikeouts and 1 walk. The best part was throwing out a cocky Ryan Braun who had just stolen second base and was trying to get to third as well. Lester bounced it to Bryant and Fisheyes never saw it coming. 

Javy showed some imaginative base running in the 2nd inning when a ball glanced off Suter right to Hernan Perez with Javy running. Perez whiffed on the ball and it went into centerfield so Javy kept on going to third base. Lorenzo Cain was a bit lazy on getting to the ball and when he did, he whiffed as well. Butterfield said stop, but Baez said go and sneaked his hand to the plate to beat the throw. 

The Handsome Youngster continued to add hits and capped off the big game with a J-Hey Homer! The much maligned hitter launched a 2-run shot into right that was so embarrassing, Cory Knebel faked an injury so he could leave the game. 

Game 2:

Friday returned us to the Cubs that can't string together 2 wins in a row. Things got started ugly right away when it was announced that Rizzo could not man the first base because of back stiffness. This game went back and forth, but the Captain-less Cubs could not keep it together. 

Kyle Hendricks was rolling through 4 innings and then got loose in the fifth when he gave up two homers of the 2RBI variety. Joe gave him the hook after that, but the damage had already been done. Luckily, Duensing, Strop, Cishek, Wilson, and Carl's Jr. were able to escape some serious jams over the next 3 innings to get to the ninth still tied. 

Duensing gave up a walk and a double to give the Brewers their first chance. Luckily Caratini, who was playing first, worked with Contreras to get Sogard at the plate trying to score. Strop and Wilson finished out the inning with back to back Ks. Wilson got the first two outs in the 7th inning before issuing 3 straight walks to load the bases. Cisheck shrows shtrikeouts and the Cubs escaped again. Carl's Jr. hit 'em with the 1-2-3 meal in the 8th for no drama luckily. 

Mike Montgomery entered a tie game in the ninth and did not have it. He struck out Domingo Santana to start the inning, but he walked Manny Pina and gave up back to back singles to Perez and Arcia to lose the game. 

Offensively, the Cubs were alright. Schwarbs got it going with a walk in the first and Contreras, Russell, and Caratini knocked some singles around to ruff up Woodruff who only lasted 3.2 innings. The Cubs scored 2 runs in the first inning. 

After Hendricks gave up the 4 spot, the offense responded with 2 of their own to tie it up. With Addison Russell on 2nd base (pinch running for Caratini), Javy Baez hit a little league home run. Baez put one out to the wall in the right-center gap for what would be an easy double. Baez is a wild card and decided not to stop at second. As he was trying to dive into third base, the ball, thrown by Sogard on the relay, bounced off of Javy's head (no helmet, of course) and ricocheted into foul territory allowing Javy to trot home for a painful round tripper. 

The offense went quiet in the 7th and 8th and squandered a lead off double by LaStella in the ninth. Cubs lose 5-4. 

Game 3:

The Cubs bounced back for a 5-2 win on Saturday afternoon with a 4 run ninth inning and Brandon Morrow's first save as a Cub. Anthony Rizzo was still sidelined with back stiffness. 

Yu Darvish pitched well enough for the double Yu, but he didn't get it because of the late blooming offense. Darvish's lone mistake was to Eric Thames who cranked one over the right field fence in the 4th inning. Darvish finished with 6 innings and 9 strikeouts, which is "nice." 

In the sixth inning, KB got clutch and posted a run on the scoreboard with a long shot over the left field wall. The game stayed tied until the 9th inning. 

Sheshek and Shtrope combined to give up a run in the 8th inning giving the Brewers a 2-1 lead. Luckily, Evil Knebel was on the DL and the Cubs were going to get to face the closer by committee. 

All the excitement for Cubs fans came in the ninth at the expense of Jacob Barnes and the Brewers terrible defense. Caratini singled and Heyward walked to put 2 on with 1 out. Javy pulled one down to Shaw at third base for what should have been a game ending double play. Shaw had butter fingers and the bases were loaded. 

Benzo stepped to the plate and rolled over on a grounder that should have been another out if it had gotten to Villar at second base. Instead, Thames made a diving stop and tossed it to the pitcher Barnes who was running for first base. Zobrist respected 90 and also the 3 inches that Barnes missed first base with his foot. Zobrist is safe on the error, Russell scores, and the bases are still loaded.  Score tied at 2. 

Ian Happ has basically sucked since hitting a homer on the first pitch of the year, but he was up to the task on Saturday. With the bases loaded, Doc Happer dropped an opposite field single to score Heyward and Javy and put the Cubs up by 2. 

The Brewers opted to not test Kris Bryant so they walked him to get to the pitcher's spot in the lineup. With Rizzo injured, Maddon was working with a short bench, so he called on the least feared batter on the team, Jon Lester. Lester was ready though and he put down a beauty of a bunt to allow Zobrist to score on the safety squeeze.

Cubs take a 3 run lead and Morrow enters for his first save of the season. 

Game3: 

On Sunday, Quintana went 6, struck out 6 and didn't allow anything from the Brewers. The Bullpen worked 3 innings to preserve the shutout and get 2-Morrow with 2 straight saves. 

Ben Zobrist got a chance to hit in the 3-hole because Rizzo is still sitting and he acted like a guy that hits in the 3-hole. He launched his first homer of the year into the right field seats and that's all the Cubs would really need for the game since the Brewers could not figure out the Cubs pitching at all. 

The Cubs did add another run on Almora's double in the fifth inning, and a Jesus Aguilar error in the seventh inning to win 3-0 and get 3 out of 4 in Miller Park. 

 

Rakes  Over the last 5 games, Benzo has 5 hits in 14 abs with 2 walks and a homer. his OPS is 1.009 and is the best on the team in that time so he is clearly the Raker. Honorable mention goes to Jon Lester for his perfect bunt and the J-Hey Kid for hitting a home run.

 

Flakes Kyle Schwarber has been bad. He's only had 1 hit in 14 abs, but he's K'd 8 times! The only thing that has masked that horribleness is the 4 walks that he's picked up on the way.

 

Throws Lester and Quintana both went 6 innings with no runs and only gave up 3 hits each while striking out 6 each. Darvish actually looked better by only giving up 2 hits while striking out 9 so he gets the throws despite one of those hits being a homer and him not getting the W.

 

Blows I'm going to give it to Monty for not being able to hold that game on Friday night. He got 1 out, gave up 2 hits and the walk off. I don't actually think anyone is deserving of this right now, but somebody has to get it. Wait, could I give it to the entire Brewers defense, because they seriously blow.

 

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