MILWAUKEE -- Cubs manager Craig Counsell headed to the mound in the sixth inning on Saturday night and patted David Peterson on the back multiple times. In his first start for a Chicago staff that has been riddled with injuries, the veteran lefty authored a solid debut performance.
Peterson’s effort, combined with a late two-out push by the Cubs’ lineup, helped the North Siders pick up an 8-2 win over the rival Brewers at American Family Field. Here were three keys within the Cubs’ latest victory.
1. Peterson’s efficient debut
Peterson did not receive a warm welcome from the Brewers -- Jackson Chourio sent his first offering as a Cubs pitcher out to center for a leadoff homer -- but the left-hander settled in and gave Chicago the kind of outing it needed.
“They were aggressive, but he threw a ton of strikes,” Counsell said. “Most importantly, he didn’t back down after a bad first result. He gave us everything we could’ve hoped for tonight.”
Following that leadoff shot by Chourio, Peterson worked quickly and limited damage at a handful of turns. Milwaukee did not strike again off the lefty until the fifth, when Blake Perkins doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a single by Sal Frelick to tie things up, 2-2.
Peterson recorded the first two outs in the sixth and walked off the hill having logged just 69 pitches in the outing. The lefty leaned mostly on his two fastballs (30% apiece for the sinker and four-seamer) and generated seven outs via ground balls, including one double play. Peterson struck out two, issued no walks and scattered five hits.
“It’s huge, getting a win and having those guys behind me,” Peterson said. “Build off of this one, see what we did well, see what we need to work on and get ready for the next one.”
2. Snapshot of Cubs’ offensive recipe
After the Brewers pulled even in the fifth inning, Chicago pieced together an impressive rally that offered a look into how this lineup works when it’s firing on all cylinders.
With two outs, Brewers reliever Chad Patrick had Alex Bregman in a 2-2 count, but the Cubs third baseman worked a walk. Michael Busch then drew a free pass of his own to set things up for Nico Hoerner, who slashed a pitch into right field for a go-ahead, RBI single.
While the ballpark was still buzzing over Chicago grabbing the lead, Ian Happ attacked a first-pitch cutter from Patrick and sent it into the right-field stands for a three-run blast.
“Any time you score four with two outs, you’ve strung together a bunch of good at-bats,” Counsell said. “And that was the case tonight. It starts out with a couple seemingly innocent walks. But it ends with a really big swing. That’s a great inning.”
The homer was Happ’s 17th of the season and his 190th with the Cubs, moving him into a tie with Hall of Famer Hack Wilson for 11th on the franchise’s all-time list.
“Breggy, that was a great at-bat, him getting on base there,” Happ said. “Buschy walked after that and then Nico, that backside ball, from on-deck that was a really fun visual to watch. Just a true backside bullet. … And then I got a good pitch to handle in my at-bat.”
3. Suzuki keeps slugging
Since tweaking his right knee on June 13 in San Francisco, Seiya Suzuki has been used mostly as a designated hitter (nine times in 10 games). Counsell has wanted to ease him back into right field through the rest of the first half, with the goal of helping set Suzuki up for a strong showing down the stretch.
In the first eight games after the minor setback against the Giants, Suzuki hit well enough (.281 average with a .785 OPS), but the slugging was lacking (no homers with a .375 SLG). After being given a day off on Thursday against the Mets, Suzuki has responded with some thump in Milwaukee.
In the fourth inning on Saturday, Suzuki sent an elevated fastball from Brewers lefty Kyle Harrison out to right field for a two-run homer to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead. That blast (Suzuki’s 12th of the year) came after he went deep off Jacob Misiorowski on Friday night. Suzuki has now homered in consecutive games for the first time since April 21-23.