Brewers beat Cubs 9-5, NL Central lead grows to 9 games
Jackson Chourio went 4-for-6 with a homer and a double as the Brewers beat the Cubs 9-5, stretching their NL Central lead to 9 games with 22 to play.
Chourio's 4-for-6 night finishes off the Cubs
The Brewers beat the Cubs 9-5 in Chicago last night, taking 2 of 3 in the series after a 17-3 opener loss on August 31 and a 9-4 win on September 1. Milwaukee leads the season series with Chicago 6-3, with 4 head-to-head matchups remaining, per Adam McCalvy.
Cubs3-17Cubs9-4Cubs9-5Jackson Chourio went 4-for-6 with a double and a home run, driving in a run, as the lineup carried a rough start from Jacob Misiorowski, who allowed 5 earned runs on 5 hits and 4 walks over 4.0 innings with 5 strikeouts. The Brewers took the lead in each of the first two innings before Misiorowski let it slip, then held a 6-5 edge from the fourth inning on as the bullpen and hitters bailed him out, per McCalvy.
Nine up on the Cubs, elimination numbers already single digits
At 87-53, Milwaukee's lead in the NL Central is 9 games over Chicago (78-62) with 22 games left, and it keeps widening: the Brewers have gone 3-2 over their last 5 games, sandwiching a pair of blowout wins over the Cubs around that 17-3 loss.
| NL Central | W | L | Pct | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brewers | 87 | 53 | .621 | — |
| Cubs | 78 | 62 | .557 | 9.0 |
 Cardinals | 70 | 70 | .500 | 17.0 |
 Pirates | 68 | 72 | .486 | 19.0 |
 Reds | 67 | 73 | .479 | 20.0 |
The margin is showing up as elimination numbers instead of games back. St. Louis, 17 out at 70-70, can be eliminated in 6 losses; Pittsburgh, 19 back at 68-72, in 4; Cincinnati, 20 back at 67-73, in just 3. Even the second-place Cubs are down to an elimination number of 14.
Upcoming
Logan Henderson (9-2, 2.48 ERA) starts as the Brewers are in Chicago tonight, coming off 7 innings against Texas on August 28 in which he allowed 1 run on 1 hit with 7 strikeouts and no walks. Kevin Gausman (8-11, 4.52 ERA) goes for the Cubs; in his last start, against Cincinnati on August 29, he got the win despite 5 earned runs over 5 innings, with 7 strikeouts.
Milwaukee is favored on the road, and the total is being read as middling — nothing close to the scoring of the last two nights. That tracks with the starters: Henderson has been nearly untouchable while Gausman has been shaky even in wins, so a total that isn't priced for a shootout suggests the market is banking on Henderson keeping this one lower-scoring than Milwaukee's last two meetings with Chicago.