![]() ![]() The Cubs strung together three singles in the third and might have taken the lead were it not for a tremendous diving stab by Luis Urías on a shot up the middle from Contreras. Piña's homer to right-center in the bottom of the second off left-hander Justin Steele was his career-high 11th of the season in his 158th at-bat, a terrific turnaround considering he was batting. The early innings were underscored by Burnes striking out the side in the first and Lorenzo Cain making a terrific leaping grab at the wall in right-center to rob Contreras of extra bases in the second. The AL Central didn't treat us quite as kindly as the NL Central, but that's just kind of how it goes sometimes." "When it came to the Cubs or Pirates, we have been taking care of business. "The Cubs, obviously, in the second half have scuffled, and we've taken advantage of the teams in our division that are scuffling," Burnes said. "We've had great series all year, though, against the Cardinals and the Reds, which those two teams are obviously fighting for that wild-card spot. It was the 11th consecutive victory over the Cubs for the Brewers, who have now won all six series from their division rival. Hader struck Patrick Wisdom out swinging to end it, and Piña gave a huge fist pump as he ran out to greet Hader in the aftermath. Hader allowed a pair of baserunners in the ninth but eventually closed out the Cubs for his 33rd save, with a strikeout and subsequent ejection of Contreras for arguing the highlight. Chicago asked for a replay review but the safe call stood, leaving it a 6-4 game. The throw came in high and Contreras made a sweeping attempt at a tag, but Reyes was able to avoid it as he slid in head-first. The Brewers added an insurance run as Pablo Reyes followed with a one-out double and then scored on a two-out shot to first by Kolten Wong that Frank Schwindel knocked down and then threw home on as Reyes tried to score. "You just keep your mind positive and working hard every single day." You don’t know what can happen in the second half. I didn’t play too much I didn’t produce too much offense," he said. "But it’s a long season. "Yeah, the first half was a little tough for me. His 12 homers in 159 at-bats put him ahead of primary catcher Omar Narváez, who's 11 totaled homers in 357 at-bats. It was the fourth two-homer game of Piña's career. It was a tie game and that gave us the lead." ![]() "I wasn’t sure if it was fair or foul," he said. "So, I was using my body to say, ‘Stay in! Stay in!’ That was a good swing, good contact. 200 in September with only one extra-base hit.īut for the third time in the game the Cubs answered, as Willson Conteras took Brad Boxberger way out to left with two outs in the seventh.įollowing a strong eighth from Devin Williams (8-2), Piña hit Milwaukee's fourth homer to lead off an inning, this time greeting Scott Effross with a shot down the line that hooked inside the foul pole and made it just over the wall in the left-field corner.Īs soon as he knew the ball was fair and hit far enough, Piña turned and gestured to the Milwaukee dugout before beginning his home-run trot while both his teammates and the crowd went wild. The Brewers grabbed a 4-3 lead when Peterson led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer to right, his first since Aug. More: A series in late June at American Family Field sent Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs in dramatically different directions Is he one of the greatest Brewers ever? Yes, he is. More: Did Ryan Braun make a huge mistake? Yes, he did. "We know that we're in the playoffs and everybody is thrilled with that, but we feel like we've earned the right to wait until we win this division." "I think we've been pretty consistent there," manager Craig Counsell said. "We’ve put the ability to win the division in our control, so that's our goal and we're sticking to that goal. With the division still in play, there was no celebrating Saturday night despite having wrapped up a postseason berth five days earlier than the 96-win 2011 team did. Louis Cardinals losses totaling three netting another clinch. The magic number to win the Central Division title – which would be the Brewers' third overall and second in four years – also dropped, with any combination of Milwaukee victories and St. Eduardo Escobar and Jace Peterson also homered and Corbin Burnes pitched six innings in his first start since his combined no-hitter with Josh Hader a week earlier in Cleveland as Milwaukee advanced to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. ![]()
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