CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Yelich capped Milwaukee’s four-run sixth inning with a tiebreaking two-run homer, helping the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 9-4 on Tuesday night.
Milwaukee used a 13-hit attack to restore its eight-game lead in the NL Central over Chicago, bouncing back nicely after losing 17-3 to the Cubs in the opener of the four-game series. The top three hitters in the Brewers’ lineup — Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang and William Contreras — went 6 for 14 and scored four times.
A day after hitting a franchise-record nine homers, Chicago was held to three singles and three doubles on a muggy night at Wrigley Field. Tyrone Taylor drove in two runs, and BJ Murray Jr. singled in the sixth for his first hit in his major league debut.
Milwaukee went ahead to stay in the sixth. Turang scored on a balk by Daniel Palencia, and Andrew Vaughn’s RBI double tied it at 3. Yelich then drove an 0-2 slider from Palencia (2-2) to right-center for his 10th homer.
Yelich also walked and scored on Joey Ortiz’s eighth homer in the eighth, a two-run shot to center field off Tyler Ferguson that lifted the Brewers to a 9-4 lead.
Antonio Senzatela (10-4) pitched an inning for his first win since he was acquired in a deadline trade with Colorado.
Chicago jumped in front on Taylor’s two-run double in the fourth. Vaughn then made a great stop on Nico Hoerner’s grounder to first, but pitcher Robert Gasser mishandled the toss to first and Taylor scampered home for a 3-0 lead.
Taylor, acquired in an Aug. 3 trade with the New York Mets, is batting .577 (15 for 26) with six RBIs in his last eight games.
The Brewers scored their first run on Cooper Pratt’s single in the fifth. They had runners on first and second when Chourio struck out swinging against Matthew Boyd, ending the inning.
Up next
Jacob Misiorowski (14-5, 1.73 ERA) starts for Milwaukee on Wednesday night, and left-hander David Peterson (7-7, 5.11 ERA) pitches for Chicago.
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