July 3 – After completing a successful 7-3 road trip, the Milwaukee Brewers are heading home to begin a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday.
Milwaukee recorded its third straight series victory with a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Colin Rea pitched into the seventh inning in the victory and William Contreras blasted a go-ahead, three-run homer in the third inning.
“We pitched well and we had a lot of guys contribute,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It takes a lot of guys on your roster when you go through a trip like this, and we got a big effort from Colin (Sunday). We got 20 outs. That was a huge effort, very efficient, and a huge hit by William to get us going.”
While Milwaukee is tied with the Cincinnati Reds atop the National League Central standings, Chicago has fallen six games behind the leaders.
The Cubs have lost six of their last seven games, but left fielder Ian Happ said the team isn’t feeling any additional pressure ahead of a critical series against the Brewers.
“Every game is as important as the next game,” Happ said. “Every day is as important as the day before and the day after. It’s one game at a time and playing with that mindset.”
Christopher Morel went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs on Sunday, when the Cubs lost 8-6 in 10 innings to the Cleveland Guardians after tying the game with four runs in the ninth.
Shortstop Dansby Swanson, who signed a seven-year contract with the Cubs during the offseason, will join teammates Marcus Stroman and Justin Steele as National League All-Stars on July 11 in Seattle.
Swanson is hitting .256 with nine homers and 35 RBIs for Chicago, which is beginning a seven-game road trip.
“This is who we thought we’d be getting,” Cubs manager David Ross said of Swanson. “He has the work ethic, the championship pedigree, the mindset to be that guy, and that staple that we needed here in the middle of our diamond. I’m happy we got him.”
Milwaukee will send right-hander Julio Teheran (2-3, 2.85 ERA) to the mound in the series opener. He allowed seven runs, including four home runs, over 5 2/3 innings in a 7-2 loss to the New York Mets last Tuesday.
Teheran had given up a total of six earned runs over 35 1/3 innings in his first six starts with the Brewers prior to the rough outing.
“He’s kind of reinvented himself a little bit, so I was interested to see what it was going to be like getting up there,” Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo said of Teheran. “I thought we did a really good job, because it seems like nobody else has really touched him up yet.”
Milwaukee has scored just 13 runs in Teheran’s seven starts. He is 3-2 with a 4.14 ERA in 10 career starts against the Cubs.
Chicago will counter with left-hander Drew Smyly (7-5, 3.96), who is looking to bounce back after giving up seven runs over 3 2/3 innings in an 8-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies last Wednesday.
Smyly had a 5.81 ERA in June after posting a 3.09 mark in May. He matched a season high by yielding nine hits in the loss to Philadelphia.
Smyly is 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in three career starts covering 15 innings versus Milwaukee.
–Field Level Media
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