Nick Madrigal delivered a two-out, tying-RBI single off Devin Williams in the ninth, and Willson Contreras came through with his own tiebreaking hit in the 11th, as the Chicago Cubs won their fifth straight, 6-5 over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.
After Milwaukee went ahead on a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the top of the 11th, Chicago’s Patrick Wisdom tied it with a double in the bottom of the frame. Then with two out and a man on third,
Contreras lined a single to right — off Peter Strzelecki (1-1) — for the Cubs, who have won 11 of 15 overall and four straight against the Brewers.
Chicago went ahead 2-1 on Contreras’ two-run homer off Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta in the fifth inning. The Brewers, though, took a 3-2 lead in the eighth when Willy Adames (two hits) also went deep with a man on off Chicago reliever Rowan Wick.
However, the All-Star Williams blew his first save in nine chances when he walked three, and gave up a bloop two-out, tying RBI single to Madrigal (three hits) during his 37-pitch ninth inning. Milwaukee went up 4-3 in the 10th on Mike Brosseau’s pinch-hit RBI single, but the Cubs tied it when Ian Happ scored from third after left fielder Christian Yelich dropped the ball while transferring it after a catch in the bottom of the frame.
Fighting for a fifth straight NL postseason appearance, Milwaukee has dropped 12 of 18.
Chicago starter Marcus Stroman was charged with two runs, and yielding just two hits, but four walks, while striking out five during a season-high 7 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, Peralta allowed just the Contreras homer, three other hits and three walks, while also fanning five in six innings.
After scoring twice in the first inning of Friday’s 8-7 loss, Milwaukee settled for a single run in the opening frame Saturday. Yelich opened the game with a walk, eventually made his way to third and scored when Chicago failed to complete a potential double play on Andrew McCutchen’s grounder to third.
Erich Uelmen (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win for Chicago.
–Field Level Media
