Crew downs Astros ahead of critical Cubs series

MILWAUKEE -- You will not hear a more poetic description of the Brewers’ pending four-game series against the Cubs than the one Eric Thames espoused on Tuesday night. His monster three-run homer snapped a tie and sent Milwaukee to a 4-2 win over Houston heading into an off-day before yet another iteration of The Biggest Series Of the Year.

“It’s hard, because baseball is that sport where it’s like a bird in your hand,” Thames said. “You can’t hold it too tight or you’ll kill it. You can’t hold it too loose or it will fly away.

“It’s one of those things you just have to get in there and compete, do your best, and at the end of the day, let things go.”

• Box score

There’s something to think about in the buildup to Thursday night and the start of another critical weekend for a Brewers team trying to catch the Cubs and some other clubs before it’s too late. With a third win in its last four games on Tuesday, Milwaukee stayed within mathematical striking distance of the postseason, seven games behind the surging Cardinals in the National League Central standings and four games behind the Cubs, who currently sit in control of the second NL Wild Card spot.

• MLB standings

These will be the Brewers’ final regular-season games against Chicago in 2019.

“We want meaningful games after this, and there's going to be,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It's going to be a good series, man. We've got to win games. The Cubs aren't the only team in this thing. They're one of the teams we have to beat, and this is a chance to do it head to head.”

Counsell’s club will go into the series off an uplifting victory against Zack Greinke and the Astros thanks to Thames, who slugged his tie-breaking, three-run home run in the third inning clear out of Miller Park, and Jordan Lyles, who delivered efficient work into the seventh inning of another quality start.

Lyles held Houston to two runs on six hits without walking a batter in 6 1/3 innings as the Brewers improved to 6-1 with Lyles on the mound since they acquired him in a July 29 trade with the Pirates. He was 0-5 with a 10.00 ERA in his final seven starts with Pittsburgh. He is 5-1 with a 2.56 ERA in his first seven starts with Milwaukee.

“I think a lot of it has to do with ‘Yaz’ and Manny, trusting their fingers,” said Lyles, referring to Brewers catchers Yasmani Grandal and Manny Pina. “Putting me in the right situations at the right times, calling the right pitches. I think a lot of credit goes to them. We’ve been in a lot of good counts.”

Tuesday marked only the third time since the beginning of August that a Brewers starting pitcher recorded an out in the seventh inning. Lyles accounts for two of those three extended starts.

“They do a few things right around here, and they really turned his season around based on how it started,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “Good stuff."

Lyles pitched with a lead for parts of four innings thanks to the Brewers’ three-run third against Houston starter Greinke, who fell to 1-5 with a 4.09 ERA against the team for whom he pitched in 2011-12. Ryan Braun dumped an RBI single into center field for a 1-1 tie with two outs in the third inning and Thames struck two pitches later when Greinke laid a changeup in the middle of the strike zone. The home run, Thames’ 20th this season, sailed out toward the players’ parking lot.

“Everybody was like, ‘If the window of my truck is shattered, I’m going to kick your --,” Thames said. “I said, 'It’s not me! You can blame the owners of the stadium for leaving the panels open.'”

Drew Pomeranz delivered an eighth straight scoreless appearance covering five outs before Josh Hader notched his 28th save in the ninth inning to seal a Lyles victory heading into an off-day before the series against the Cubs. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Lyles won in exactly the same fashion last week, when he held the Cardinals to one run in 5 1/3 innings of a victory that averted a St. Louis sweep before an off-day, which preceded a three-game series at Wrigley Field.

The Brewers took two of three at Wrigley, winning shutouts on Saturday and Sunday. They have now won three of four against the Cubs and Astros while allowing five total runs.

“For all of us, we’ll recognize the magnitude of the series,” Braun said. “It’s the last time we get an opportunity to play [the Cubs]. The Cardinals have been playing phenomenal baseball and distanced themselves, it feels, a little bit from where we’re at.

“We should recognize the magnitude of it and embrace it. It’s fun. When you get to September, you want to play in games that are meaningful and there’s no reason to pretend like they’re any less significant than they are.”