Cubs Takeaways: What we learned as momentum shifts away from Brewers
CHICAGO — The vibes at Wrigley Field have changed in the snap of a finger.
It was a difficult way to start the series with the Milwaukee Brewers in a shutout loss on Monday, but the Cubs have since rallied to win three straight games against the NL Central leaders.
That includes a nail-biting 4-3 victory Wednesday night as the Cubs secured a series win.
The Cubs only notched four hits on the evening, but they made them all count with some clutch performances.
Here’s what we learned from another thrilling Cubs victory:
Shawsome
Matt Shaw is playing inspired baseball right now, and it’s paying big dividends for the Cubs.
The rookie third baseman is the team’s best offensive player since the All-Star break, but he’s finding a way to contribute even without a hit.
Shaw sparked the Cubs in the bottom of the third inning with an 11-pitch plate appearance against Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski that resulted in a walk.
After Misiorowski walked the first two batters of the inning, Shaw was initially asked to bunt. But he fouled off a pair of bunt attempts and was forced to swing away. He grinded out the rest of the plate appearance and eventually drew the free pass to load the bases.
The next batter, Michael Busch, lined a double into the left-center field gap to clear the bases and give the Cubs a big 3-1 lead.
Shaw also made an incredible play defensively during a crucial sixth inning in which the Brewers were mounting a comeback:
And for good measure, Shaw homered in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Cubs some much-needed breathing room for the ninth:
The cushion proved to be massive for the Cubs, as the Brewers scored in the top of the ninth inning to pull within a run of the Cubs. Closer Daniel Palencia walked the next two hitters to load the bases but got Brewers catcher William Contreras to line out to end the game.
The 23-year-old Shaw is helping the Cubs win in every facet of the game right now.
Win Day
The Cubs have now won 71% of the games Colin Rea has started this season, as they are 15-6 when he takes the ball.
The veteran right-hander consistently gives them a strong effort and figures out a way to battle, even when he doesn’t have his best stuff.
On Wednesday night, Rea lost his command in the top of the second inning, walking three of the first four hitters in the frame to load the bases.
But he limited the damage to just one run on a groundout before escaping the jam.
The Brewers plated another run in the top of the sixth inning when Rea had already left the game. With a runner on second base, Cubs manager Craig Counsell opted to pull Rea for left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar.
Brewers second baseman Brice Turang greeted Thielbar by lining the first pitch into right field for an RBI single.
Rea lowered his season ERA to 3.96 as he allowed two runs on three hits and five walks in 5.2 innings.
Momentum swing
Things looked bleak for the Cubs Monday evening, matching the weather as a torrential downpour hit the area hard and pushed the night game of the doubleheader to the following afternoon.
It wasn’t the first time the Cubs have benefitted from some rain in their history.
After dropping the first game of this all-important five-game series with the Brewers 7-0 Monday afternoon, the Cubs look like a completely different team these last two days.
They picked up a doubleheader sweep Tuesday and then rode Busch’s big hit and Shaw’s huge performance to victory Wednesday night.
The Brewers lost only twice in a 20-game stretch from July 27 through Monday. The Cubs then turned around and handed them three losses in a span of about 32 hours.
The Cubs are now only six games back in the division, which is still a lot of ground to make up with only five-and-a-half weeks left to play. But it’s much better than it was just a few days ago when the Cubs trailed by nine games.
Now the Cubs have set themselves up for a potentially monumental swing if they can pull off a win in the series finale Thursday afternoon.
And what’s more: With the Cubs’ win Wednesday night, they clinched the tiebreaker over the Brewers by virtue of winning the season series against their northern neighbors.
What a difference a few days can make.
