Gary Sanchez saves the day once again, hitting a tie-breaking two-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 6-4 win against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
The Brewers, who are now 33-23, hold their first place spot in the NL Central after taking three out of four against Chicago in a rather exciting series that marked the return of former Brewers manager Craig Counsell to American Family Field for the first time since he signed in the offseason to become the Cubs’ new manager.
His return was met with boos every time he would appear from out of the dugout. The Cubs (28-29) have now lost their last seven of eight games and are below .500 for the first time since March.
Slow Going, But Exciting Power Got Milwaukee Brewers Scoring
Colin Rea was on the mound for Milwaukee, but got off to a slow start. Cody Bellinger was able to get Chicago ahead with a two-run homer in the first inning; The only lead the Cubs would maintain for the whole game.
Enter the second inning. Willy Adames got things going with a lead-off double and was able to advance to third on a groundout. Gary Sanchez then was able to bring Adames in to score with a sac fly. With two outs going, Sal Frelick singled, followed by a Joey Ortiz double that scored Frelick. Ortiz was then able to score thanks to a Blake “Clutch” Perkins single.
Two. Out. Rallys. pic.twitter.com/DFYZsNLJ9p
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 30, 2024
Rea was able to work around that solo home run and work five innings, holding the Cubs to just that one run. He ended his Thursday allowing five hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Jameson Taillon worked six innings allowing the three runs in the second inning on six hits.
Hero of the Game: Gary Sanchez
The Brewers lead 3-1 going into the fifth inning when Bryan Hudson (4-0) came in for relief and the Cubs were able to hit not one, but two game-tying homers from Seiya Suzuki and Christopher Morel. Going into the eighth, the game was tied 4-4, and Milwaukee was not going to let Chicago come out on top.
Gary Sanchez put the Brewers back on top in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run, 422-foot blast to center field off of Tyson Miller. Entering Thursday’s game, Sanchez had an OPS of .971 against left-handers, and a less impressive .643 OPS against right-handers. Manager Pat Murphy gave Sanchez his flowers, saying he was happy for the catcher.
“He’s going to have some strikeouts, but the guy’s dangerous, and everybody in the league knows it,” Murphy said. “I’m really happy for him. He’s kind of shoved it in our face a little bit, like, ‘Hey man, I can hit more than lefties’, Pretty cool.”
Veins at absolute zero @ElGarySanchez https://t.co/0uMFV9wUHi pic.twitter.com/48ZUHSriDT
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 30, 2024
The last time we saw a clutch moment from Sanchez was in April where he hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer off of Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of a 7-5 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sanchez said that nothing’s changed, and that he thinks “the focus remains the same. Find a pitch in the zone and try to put a good swing on it. I was able to do that today.”
Elvis Peguero came in to close out the game and got the Brewers into a little bit of a predicament when he allowed a one-out single to Dansby Swanson in the ninth. However, the game ended with Patrick Wisdom grounding out on a solid play by Ortiz. Peguero became the seventh pitcher this season to record a save for the Brewers.
Next Up For the Brewers:
There are no days off for the Brewers as they prepare to welcome the Chicago White Sox, who have lost eight straight, for a three-game series beginning on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10PM CST at American Family Field.
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