CHICAGO -- The Brewers are currently chasing the Cubs, but the reality of the situation is reversed when zooming out. The North Siders have been trying to overtake their rivals to the north for three years running and understand that the finish line matters more than how the division race looks in mid-May.
On Monday night, the Cubs got their first look at this year’s iteration of the Brewers -- the first time the teams have clashed since the National League Division Series last October. Chicago was handed a 9-3 loss, which put a period on the 15-game winning streak at Wrigley Field that dated back to April 12.
“The Brewers are the team that’s won the division the last three years,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s what we want to do. Last year, they beat us and they had a fabulous season. So, we’ve got to improve to get there.”
The Cubs’ 15-game streak at home was the second-longest such run since the club took up residence at Wrigley Field, trailing only an 18-game stretch in September of 1935. That included a pair of 7-0 homestands that each fell within a separate 10-game winning streak for the Cubs, who climbed to the top of the NL Central from last place during that period.
The Cubs rattled off 20 wins in 23 games, putting together one of the best stretches of Counsell’s managerial career (including his time leading Milwaukee). Recently, though, Chicago lost six of nine on the road, while the Brewers came into Monday with wins in eight of their last 10 games.
With the loss in the opener of this series, Chicago saw its lead over Milwaukee trimmed to just a half-game.
The Cubs won 92 games, went 7-6 against Milwaukee in the regular season and clinched a Wild Card spot last year -- only to lose to the Brewers in five games in the NLDS. The North Siders finished with 83 wins in each of the ‘23 and ‘24 seasons, ending well behind the Brewers for the division crown.
“Any time you play a division opponent,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said, “and especially a team like them, who has proven to be at the top of the division every year, there’s always a little bit of extra something. But at the end of the day, I feel like this group is so good about showing up and being prepared for the day, and trying to win the day.”
One of the reasons for the North Siders’ run to the top of the division standings right now has been a resurgence from lefty Shota Imanaga (2.32 ERA through his first nine starts). In Monday’s loss, however, the Brewers dealt Imanaga his roughest outing of the year, piling up eight runs on nine hits and chasing the lefty after just 4 1/3 innings.
Christian Yelich broke through first against Imanaga, sending a first-pitch sweeper off the video board beyond the right-field bleachers for a leadoff shot in the second. Imanaga, who allowed three runs total in his previous three starts, then surrendered four runs in a nine-batter fourth inning for Milwaukee.
In the fifth inning, Jake Bauers ended Imanaga’s night with a three-run homer that also caromed off the video board in right. Yelich and Bauers became the first set of opposing teammates to hit home runs off the ballpark’s video boards (installed in 2015) in the same game, according to the Cubs.
“If you look at their hitters, I think they know what they need to do at times,” Imanaga said via his interpreter, Edwin Stanberry. “They’re aggressive and they try to make hard contact. … I think their game plan overcame my skills.”
After being no-hit by Brewers righty Brandon Sproat for the first four innings, the Cubs did put up a three-spot in the fifth. That outburst included a two-run homer by Swanson, who had not gone deep since April 24, snapping a drought of 72 plate appearances without a homer.
Overall, though, Chicago’s recent woes with runners in scoring position (.153 average in 86 plate appearances across the previous eight games) continued against Milwaukee. The Cubs ended 0-for-9 in such situations, including coming up empty after Sproat walked the first two batters in the opening frame.
“They had a good plan and kept the ball on the ground and made the plays,” Swanson said. “We had a chance early to kind of get some momentum rolling, and weren’t able to capitalize.”
The task ahead for the Cubs is to hold off the Brewers and make the most of their early-season momentum in the division.
“They’re a good team again – no question about it,” Counsell said. “That’s where it’s at.”