Nothing separated the teams through four innings Friday night in Milwaukee. Then the Cubs took the lead, and the Brewers took everything else. Jacob Misiorowski kept Chicago quiet long enough for the Milwaukee offense to erupt across the final three innings, and the Brewers walked away with a 6-2 victory before 41,021 at American Family Field.
Misiorowski was the anchor. The right-hander worked six innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, walking 4 and striking out 8 on 107 pitches. He picked up his ninth win against three losses, carrying a 1.45 ERA. For five innings he and Colin Rea matched zeros, and when Seiya Suzuki's solo homer to center gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the fifth, Misiorowski simply kept the Cubs from adding to it.
The Brewers answered in the sixth. Garrett Mitchell's two-run homer to right center — 407 feet, with Jake Bauers scoring ahead of him — gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead it would not relinquish. That was the go-ahead swing. Later in the inning, Pratt scored on David Hamilton's triple to left, pushing the margin to 3-1. William Contreras extended it further in the seventh, connecting on a two-run homer to left center, 449 feet, with Jackson Chourio scoring to make it 5-1. Christian Yelich added a run-scoring double in the eighth, with Pratt crossing the plate to close out the scoring at 6-2.
Ethan Roberts absorbed the loss for Chicago, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits in one inning of work, falling to 0-2. Colin Rea had kept the Brewers in check through five innings — 1 run, 5 hits, 4 strikeouts — but the bullpen could not hold the line once Milwaukee's lineup found its rhythm. The Cubs managed just 3 hits on the night.
Milwaukee extended its winning streak to four games and improved to 49-29, holding first place in the division. Chicago, also riding a four-game winning streak entering the night, fell to 44-37. Suzuki, who went 1-for-2 with a homer and a sacrifice fly for both of Chicago's RBI, is now 2 home runs away from 100 in his career.