Chicago Cubs News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

USA TODAY Sports

Happ Carries Cubs to Victory Against Milwaukee

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Cubs
By Payton Havermann | Last updated 8/27/22

The first two thirds of Friday's 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers could not have been worse for the Chicago Cubs. Though starting pitcher Justin Steele, who'd been dominant since the all-star break, was able to gut his way through 5.1 innings allowing just a run while striking out six, it was certainly not the best he's looked.

The lefty struggled with command for much of the evening, walking four and leaving some pitches up in the zone, one of which was crushed by Tyrone Taylor for a home run. Steele worked with traffic for his entire outing but still did a fantastic job to limit the damage, stranding every baserunner against him, getting six groundballs against two flyballs, and still flashing his strikeout stuff.

The Mississippi native has been on such a roll lately that even his less-dominant outings have still been well-pitched, which is why it was somewhat concerning when he was removed with lower-back tightness in the sixth inning. Though manager David Ross and Steele himself didn't seem overly concerned postgame, it would still benefit the Cubs to exercise caution with the lefty.

As for the offense, the Cubs lineup simply had no answer for Brewers righty Freddy Peralta. In his six innings against Chicago, Peralta walked just one batter and held the Cubs hitless after six. The game was veering toward disaster before the righty was relieved in the seventh by Matt Bush.

Nick Madrigal leadoff the inning with a seemingly harmless groundball before Brewers third baseman Luis Urias booted the ball, allowing him to reach. Following a Willson Contreras groundout that pushed Madrigal to second, Ian Happ stepped to the plate with a prime opportunity to tie the game with Chicago's first hit.

But the outfielder would do one better. After whiffing on a pitch out of the zone to run the count full, Happ punished a 100 MPH fastball, sending it over the right field wall to give the Cubs their first hit, and lead of the game at 2-1.

Following the home run, neither team did much of anything offensively. Cubs relievers Erich Uelman and Brandon Hughes pitched a scoreless inning each while the Brewers bullpen kept the game within reach going into the bottom of the ninth.

After striking out the side in the eighth, Hughes would begin the bottom of the ninth against Rowdy Tellez, going up 0-2 on the first baseman before Tellez sent a 1-2 slider deep to tie the game at two apiece.

Righty Mark Leiter Jr. entered and Milwaukee would put another two runners on before Leiter could get an out. The reliever then got Victor Caratini to fly out to left and would then be relieved by Sean Newcomb who got the final two outs to escape the jam and send the teams to extra innings.

Happ would lead off with a runner on second against Brewers closer Devin Williams, who blew a save the previous time he faced the Cubs. Happ didn't waste any time, demolishing a 1-0 hanging changeup for his second two-run home run of the game.

Happ would finish with both of Chicago's hits and all four runs batted in.

The Brewers wouldn't go down easy, however. David Ross would send righty reliever Manuel Rodriguez, who had been activated from the 60-day injured list earlier that day, in for the save. Rodriguez hadn't pitched in the majors since 2021 and had just five innings pitched in the minors all year, but had experience in the role in the past.

The 26-year-old started the inning strong, striking out Willy Adames on three pitches. However the next three batters would reach, two on bloop singles and one on a walk, to load the bases with one out and Chicago clinging to a 4-3 lead.

Rodriguez would get Jace Peterson to put a ball on the ground to Madrigal, who tagged Tellez for the second out, and flipped the ball to first to complete the game-saving double play and secure the 4-3 victory.

The win clinched the season series win for the Cubs over the Brewers, and the Cubs will go for the series win at 6:10 Saturday when they send Drew Smyly to the mound to face Brandon Woodruff at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Cubs and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: