Cubs know 'we don’t have time to sulk' after sweep in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE -- The Cubs were unable to make the most of their final, compressed string of games against rival Milwaukee in the regular season. If anything, the Brewers just showed the North Siders that it will take near-flawless baseball to get past them should they meet again on the October stage.

On Wednesday night, Kevin Gausman struggled and the Cubs were dealt an 8-6 loss at the hands of the Brewers, who have stretched their lead atop the National League Central to 10 games. The rivals squared off seven times in a 10-day span – a last-chance scenario for the Cubs to make a dent in the division race – and Chicago lost five of the matchups.

“Not the series we wanted to have here,” Cubs outfielder Ian Happ said. “But we’ve put ourselves in a position where we kind of control our own destiny. Our goal is to play playoff baseball, no matter how that shakes out.”

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s defeat:

1. The postseason picture
Back on Aug. 12, the Cubs put the finishing touch on an 8-1 run and had a 7 1/2-game lead atop the NL’s Wild Card standings. At that moment in time, the Phillies were not even among the three teams in Wild Card position.

Things have changed a lot in the past few weeks.

Dating back to Aug. 13, the Cubs have gone 10-16 with a 4.88 ERA as a team. The Phillies, meanwhile, began a nine-game winning streak on Aug. 13 and went on to rattle off 15 wins in 17 games. With a win over the Astros on Wednesday, Philadelphia improved to 18-6 since Aug. 13 and now holds a 1 1/2-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Wild Card picture.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell was asked before Wednesday’s game how much he is paying attention to the standings right now.

“Look, again, our job is to win games,” Counsell said. “That’s what we can control. That’s what we can do. [The Wild Card race] doesn’t affect any decisions. The decisions are happening during the game here. What’s going on around the league doesn’t help us. Do we know the standings? I know the standings, yeah.”

The Cubs are helped by the fact that they own the tiebreaker over the Phillies by going 6-1 against them this season. Chicago also holds tiebreakers over the D-backs (4-2) and Padres (5-1), who are behind the North Siders in the Wild Card hunt. Last year, Chicago secured home-field in the Wild Card Series against San Diego and won in three games.

“We don’t have time to sulk,” Gausman said. “We’ve just got to keep our head down and keep playing really good baseball. And just continue to be confident.”

2. Gausman’s inconsistent stretch
Since being acquired at the Trade Deadline from the Blue Jays, Gausman has alternated between outstanding and confounding for the Cubs. His latest outing against the Brewers fell into the latter category.

After two innings, Gausman had surrendered three home runs – one apiece to Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio and William Contreras – and the Cubs were in a swift 6-0 hole. The blasts from Chourio and Contreras both came on first-pitch splitters that the Cubs righty left up in the zone.

“I just need to pitch better. It comes back to execution,” Gausman said. “I can’t throw lazy changeups in the zone. Those are always going to get beat. I just need to be better.”

Entering Wednesday night, Gausman had given up four home runs total in his previous four starts combined. He had not given up three homers in a game since June 25, during a start for Toronto.

Overall against the Brewers, the righty was charged with seven runs (six earned) in four innings, in which he struck out six and walked two. Since coming to the Cubs, Gausman has had three starts in which he has allowed at least five runs, but he has also logged three quality starts, including a seven-inning gem last time out (also against Milwaukee).

“It’s been two different pitchers, for sure,” Counsell said.

3. Offense quiet against Henderson
The Cubs headed into Wednesday’s game leading the Major Leagues in runs scored (774), home runs (203), slugging percentage (.430) and OPS (.769). In the season finale against the Brewers, Chicago’s lineup simply could not get much going against starter Logan Henderson.

Henderson leaned heavily on his four-seamer and changeup, featuring the offspeed offering 44% of the time. The right-hander allowed one unearned run in five innings, giving him a 1.50 ERA with 13 strikeouts against just one walk in his two outings against the Cubs this season (both in the past week).

“He’s got a unique mix and he doesn’t really walk anybody,” Happ said. “And kind of a low-slot four-seam with a really good changeup. He did a good job keeping us in between both those pitches. And he was good against us in Chicago, too. Give him a lot of credit.”

In the ninth, the Cubs managed a five-run rally against the Brewers' bullpen after Brandon Sproat walked the bases loaded with no outs. Ian Happ (bases-loaded walk), Nico Hoerner (RBI single) and Michael Conforto (two-run double) powered the late push.