Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers, hopeful for the Cy Young Award, took the mound at Wrigley Field. He hadn’t given up more than three earned runs in any start this season. The Chicago Cubs challenged him, though, forcing him to throw 92 pitches over four innings. Misiorowski allowed five earned runs, the most in a game this season. These runs came from five hits and four walks. However, the Brewers came out on top with a 9-5 win over the Cubs, wasting the Cubs’ offensive efforts against Misiorowski.

It was a pass the line night against Misiorowski, and I thought that it was a pretty darn good job, said manager Craig Counsell. Their bullpen pitched very well and kind of put the game in order. I thought we kind of swung the bats better than the results, but their bullpen did a really nice job.

Cubs starter David Peterson faced challenges of his own, struggling to finish innings and putting his team in a 2-0 deficit by the end of the first inning. Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer in response, leading to a back-and-forth start. Bregman continued with a two-run go-ahead single in the second inning after Tyrone Taylor’s RBI single.

Bregman commented, I thought the guys did a good job of battling and trying to take some good swings on good pitches, and when the ball’s out of the zone, not swing. Just didn’t do enough after that. He acknowledged the strength of the Brewers, adding, They’ve got a really good ball club over there, and it takes execution on our end to win these kinds of games, and we didn’t execute in all phases of the game the way we should have today.

Peterson, who allowed six runs on seven hits over 3 2/3 innings, with four walks and strikeouts, said, There was kind of a mixed bag with the stuff, just felt like I wasn’t getting ahead of hitters the way that I needed to, and the way that I usually do, and wasn’t executing to the level that I have been recently. So, credit to them. They put up good at-bats. But you get behind in counts, and the pitch count goes up and found ourselves in the spot that we were in.

Nico Hoerner made a critical defensive play in the fifth inning, diving to catch a ball in left field with the bases loaded. This play kept the Cubs within one run. Bregman praised the play, saying, Oh, a huge play. Obviously an unbelievable defender and making a clutch play is huge, especially in that spot.

The Cubs’ chance to catch the Brewers in the standings faded with this loss, leaving them nine games back. Although their bullpen avoided disaster, key relievers faced challenges. Daniel Palencia, returning from a two-month injury hiatus, allowed one run on two hits. During the ninth inning, closer Jacob Webb suffered a scary moment when a line drive struck his right forearm. Although in immediate pain, X-rays showed no fractures, Counsell stated postgame.