Cubs at Brewers
The Chicago Cubs showed plenty of mettle in avoiding a sweep in their last series and, as a result, find themselves holding onto a share of the lead in National League Central. After a day off, the Cubs will get a chance to put some distance between themselves and one of their closest competitors starting Friday when they visit the Milwaukee Brewers, who sit two games out of the division lead.
Following back-to-back losses in San Francisco, Chicago optioned former starting shortstop Addison Russell to the minors Wednesday, setting in motion a series of events that included scheduled starter Jon Lester getting scratched, Kris Bryant leaving with an injury and Anthony Rizzo getting ejected. The Cubs fought through it all to pull out a 4-1 victory and avoid a three-game sweep, getting four solid innings from fill-in starter Tyler Chatwood and five scoreless frames from the bullpen to enter the weekend tied with St. Louis atop the division. Milwaukee also showed some grit Wednesday, eschewing a three-game sweep of its own by ending a five-game losing streak to Cincinnati. "There are still 60 games left, we're not down to the wire. But (this is) an important series, for sure, it's against a team that's ahead of us. We want to keep ourselves right there," Brewers manager Craig Counsell told reporters Wednesday.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs RH Kyle Hendricks (7-8, 3.41 ERA) vs. Brewers LH Gio Gonzalez (2-1, 3.60)
Hendricks has permitted exactly two runs in each of his four July starts, but he fell to 0-3 for the month Sunday against San Diego after watching the offense give him no more than one run of support for the third time over that span. The Dartmouth product has struggled mightily in nine road outings, going 3-6 with a 5.44 ERA (4-2, 1.89 in nine home turns). Hendricks took the loss at Milwaukee in his second start of the season on April 7 after giving up four runs over four innings.
Gonzalez returned from nearly a two-month stint on the injured list due to left shoulder inflammation Saturday in Arizona but did not factor into the decision after yielding three runs on five hits and two walks over four innings. The 33-year-old has limited the opposition to three or fewer runs in six of his seven turns this season, but he has yet to finish six innings. Gonzalez's best outing of the season came in Chicago on May 10 when he blanked the Cubs in 5 2/3 frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Brewers rookie 2B Keston Hiura is batting .453 with 12 runs, eight doubles, two triples, four home runs and 14 RBIs during his 13-game hitting streak.
2. Chicago's 19-29 road record is the worst in the NL.
3. Milwaukee OF Christian Yelich is batting .400 during a 13-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 19 consecutive contests.