Rookie Christopher Morel hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning to lift the host Chicago Cubs to an 8-7 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
With his team trailing 7-6 and a man on in the sixth inning, Morel deposited a pitch from Hoby Milner (3-2) inside the left-field foul pole for his 12th homer of the season.
Michael Rucker (2-1), Mark Leiter Jr. and Brandon Hughes didn’t yield a run over the final three innings as Chicago won its fourth straight game and 10th in its last 14 contests. Rucker retired all three batters he faced, Leiter fanned all three he encountered and Hughes worked around one hit to pick up his second save.
Patrick Wisdom also clubbed a two-run homer and Nick Madrigal had three hits for Chicago, which improved to 8-6 versus Milwaukee this season.
Meanwhile, Andrew McCutchen and Hunter Renfroe each belted two-run homers and Rowdy Tellez delivered a solo shot for the Brewers, who are mired in a 6-11 rut.
Milwaukee, though, didn’t waste time getting to Chicago starter Keegan Thompson in the first. Christian Yelich opened the game with a single and scored on McCutchen’s third home run in two days.
However, the Cubs answered by roughing up Milwaukee’s Aaron Ashby for three runs in the bottom of the frame. An RBI double from Seiya Suzuki, run-scoring triple from Franmil Reyes and Ian Happ’s infield single brought home another to put Chicago ahead.
The Cubs made it 4-2 after Willson Contreras’ sacrifice fly in the second inning. However, that lead didn’t last long with Tellez clubbing a solo shot and Renfroe hitting the left-field video board with a man on in the third.
Thompson gave up five runs on those three homers, plus three other hits, while walking three and striking out three in 3 2/3 innings. Wisdom, though, put Chicago up 6-5 in the fifth inning following his 22nd homer of the season.
Milwaukee took the lead right back in the sixth on Yelich’s RBI groundout and Willy Adames’ run-scoring infield hit. That put Ashby, who allowed six runs, eight hits and struck out eight without a walk through five innings, in line for his third victory before Morel went deep.
–Field Level Media
