Cubs hold off Crew; NL Central lead back to 4
MILWAUKEE -- The Cubs had lost two in a row, but manager Joe Maddon wasn't panicking. After all, he had Daniel Murphy back at the top of the lineup and Javier Baez on the basepaths. It doesn't hurt that Kyle Schwarber can hit a baseball a long way.Murphy had three
MILWAUKEE -- The Cubs had lost two in a row, but manager Joe Maddon wasn't panicking. After all, he had
Murphy had three hits, including a leadoff homer to spark a four-run fourth inning that was highlighted by another Baez dash around the bases, as the Cubs beat the Brewers, 6-4, on Wednesday night at Miller Park.
"It would have been nice to sweep these guys, but it's always tough to sweep a team -- and they have a pretty good team over there," Milwaukee's
Schwarber told Maddon his back was tight but then belted his 25th home run, a 436-foot shot into the upper deck in right field with one out in the sixth, to help the Cubs avoid being swept. With the win, Chicago regained a four-game lead over Milwaukee in the National League Central and lead the season series, 10-6, with three more games at Wrigley Field, Sept. 10-12.
"He may have taken his best swing," Maddon said of Schwarber. "The body was out of it probably because he couldn't feel like he could use [his back]. I think that was his best swing of the season. I'm not exaggerating, it was that good."
Maddon didn't consider Wednesday a must-win game.
"I really try to avoid those kind of thoughts," Maddon said. "I try to treat every game equally. If you don't win the game tonight, it means you lost tonight's game -- it's not the end of the world."
"That's a huge game for us today," Quintana said. "We need to keep battling."
Milwaukee starter
"He sets the tone for the whole group," Maddon said of Murphy. "Him hitting first, getting all of his at-bats, I love seeing him at the plate as often as we can and then we can upgrade the defense in the latter part of the game and he's all about it."
Time off is nice.
"I think it's a reflection of how deep our ballclub is," Murphy said of getting a breather. "This team is as deep and as versatile as I've ever seen."
After Murphy's homer, it got a little crazy.
Baez singled and was halfway to second when
"We've seen that before," Maddon said of Baez. "That's just who he is. He makes things happen on the bases. He's fearless. It came in a big situation again."
"I knew there was nobody at third, and the shortstop had to beat me to the bag at third base plus he had to catch the ball," Baez said. "As I was getting close to the bag, I saw his eyes go up and the pitcher was backing up. I just kept going because the ball, it went right between us."
Did Baez think Cain had to hurry his throw?
"I think they do because they know I'm not afraid to take another bag," Baez said. "When they speed up, they make some errors."
The Cubs now are 11-5 in this stretch of 23 games in 23 days.
"I'm really proud of the way our guys have handled this [stretch]," Maddon said. "I don't sense fatigue, the energy is good, pregame is good, talk in the dugout good. They're good. Normally at this time of the year, you feel more of that [fatigue]. I think our ability to manipulate lineups and keep guys fresh helps. I think they know how to react."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Hold 'em: The Brewers had runners at first and second with one out in the fourth when
Stopper: Maddon doesn't want to designate a closer to replace injured
"[We wanted him to] just slow it down there," Maddon said of the mound visit. "[Strop] was a little bit hurried. He obviously gained his composure. He's got great stuff, 95, 96 [mph], with that sink. The slider he struck out Granderson on, you could see how good that pitch is. It was loud."
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SOUND SMART
The Cubs are 11-2 with Murphy in the lineup.
HE SAID IT
"It was like a playoff game. To lose this series yesterday and come back today and play hard and get this win is huge. In our division, everybody is close. We're trying to win as many games as we can." -- Baez
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
Murphy was at third and Rizzo at second with two outs in the fifth when Zobrist singled to center. Cain threw home and Rizzo was called out but the Cubs challenged the ruling. After review, the call stood and the inning was over.
UP NEXT
Carrie Muskat has covered the Cubs since 1987, and for MLB.com since 2001. You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat.