Game Recap: Cubs clinch season series with Brewers

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 6 hours ago

CHICAGO - In front of another packed Wrigley Field crowd on Wednesday night, the Chicago Cubs (73-54) accomplished something they haven't been able to do in quite a while. That accomplishment may get overlooked, but the Cubs were finally able to clinch a season series against the Milwaukee Brewers (79-48) and clinched this week's massive five-game set with them.

It didn't come easily with plenty of late-game drama to be had, but that is the norm when these teams play as the Brewers tend to make things uncomfortable until the final out. Despite a four-hit performance from the Cubs' offense, they made those hits count as two of those four hits resulted in four runs. Mix that with a game-saving catch with the bases loaded in the ninth by Nico Hoerner, and that's all the Cubs would need as they picked up another massive 4-3 victory over the Brewers.

Say what you want about Colin Rea and his role on the team, but the bottom line is this team would be lost without him. Since stepping in for Justin Steele, who was lost for the season with an elbow injury, Rea has given the Cubs far more than even they could've expected as he has cracked the double-digit win mark and is 10-5 this season.

Even if he wasn't at his best on Wednesday, walking five and striking out three, he was able to limit the damage as he was charged with two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings to continue the strong run he has been on. He needed to be at his best as the flame-throwing Jacob Misiorowski was on the mound, making just his second start since coming off the IL.

Like Rea, Misiorowski struggled with his command from start to finish, walking three and striking out five across four innings, and despite allowing just one hit, that hit resulted in three runs as he was saddled with the loss on Wednesday. With both teams going down quietly in the first, things got interesting for Rea in the second as he completely lost his command over a four-hitter stretch.

After throwing just 10 pitches in the first to retire the side, Rea labored through the second inning as he walked three of the first four hitters to begin the second, as the Brewers loaded the bases with one down. When things are going well for Milwaukee, these are the situations where they kill their opponents, but they haven't been able to capitalize against the Cubs this week, as Rea managed to escape that jam by allowing just a Blake Perkins groundout that had the Brewers on top 1-0.

Apart from that, Rea did what he had to do to keep the Brewers off balance as he continues to pitch to the conditions which the Cubs pitchers have done more often than not this season. Since coming off the IL, Misiorowski has been a shell of himself, and that continued to be the case in the third as he went on to walk the bases loaded with no outs, setting the Cubs offense up in a big spot.

The key at bat in that inning came from Matt Shaw, who squared to bunt early in the count for two strikes, only to battle back for an 11-pitch at bat before earning the walk. It's the little moments like this that can completely shift the momentum of a game, and five pitches later, it was Michael Busch coming through with a bases-clearing RBI double that put the Cubs in front for good, 3-1.

For Busch, he is putting together an impressive homestand, and with two of the Cubs' four hits, he does appear to be getting on one of his hot streaks again. Misiorowski managed to get out of the third without any more damage, but with three runs across, he was on the ropes early. The same can be said about Rea to begin the fourth as the Brewers picked up a one-out single from Andrew Vaughn to set things up, while a two-out double from Brice Turang put Milwaukee in a position to tie things up, only to have Rea get out of the jam.

Rea continued to pitch into and out of trouble throughout the rest of his outing, and after walking Christian Yelich to lead off the sixth, he came within one out of getting through that inning as Craig Counsell made the move for Caleb Thielbar. That decision wasn't looking good early as Turang greeted Thielbar with a single to pull the Brewers within a run, only to have the lefty retire the final four hitters he faced.

Shaw made a huge play on a grounder during that inning as he continues to play the best ball of his career since the All-Star break. Speaking of Shaw, not only did he have the biggest at-bat during the third inning, but he had the biggest at-bat of the game in the eighth as he took Jared Koenig deep to left to push the Cubs' lead to 4-2, as that was his ninth homer since the break.

That homer proved to be even bigger than people realized, as it not only gave Daniel Palencia a massive insurance run that he would need, but would go down as the game-winning hit as Palencia continued to struggle in the ninth. Despite an overall great season with a 1.97 ERA, things have been shaky at best for Palencia the past few weeks, and you started to see that again in this one as Turang delivered a one-out single to bring the tying run to the plate.

After striking out Caleb Durbin to get within an out of finishing things off, Danny Jansen had other ideas as he smoked a single off Shaw's glove at third, resulting in Turang scoring to cut the lead to 4-3. Things only got worse from there as Palencia walked the next two hitters to load the bases with William Contreras set to bat.

Needing to make one pitch to finish things off, Palencia made the pitch, but it wasn't a great pitch as Contreras ripped a liner to second for what looked to be a go-ahead single off the bat. That would be the case if Hoerner weren't the second baseman, as he made an incredible snow-cone catch to take the hit away and saved the day for the Cubs' 4-3 victory. Chicago will now look to make it four straight on Thursday as they send Shota Imanaga to the mound against Quinn Priester.