CHICAGO – The Milwaukee Brewers have a series victory on their mind and will be in great position to acquire one as they again take on the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night, May 19.
The reason for the optimism? Jacob Misiorowski (3-2, 2.12) is on the mound, bringing with him an 18 ⅓-inning scoreless streak and a tie for the major league lead in strikeouts with 80.
The Cubs will counter with right-hander Ben Brown (1-1, 1.60), who’s pitched well in various roles this season and has traditionally been tough on Milwaukee in three previous starts.
The Brewers are coming off a 9-3 drubbing of the Cubs in the opener, a game in which both Christian Yelich and Jake Bauers homered off the video board in right field.
Multiple missed opportunities
Milwaukee did miss a chance to further pad its lead when Pete Crow-Armstrong dropped a routine fly ball off the bat of Sal Frelick to start the fourth and then David Hamilton bunted for a hit only to see Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang strike out and William Contreras ground out.
In the fifth, a leadoff double by Christian Yelich went for naught and in the sixth a leadoff single by Sal Frelick also resulted in no runs, although by that point the Brewers did get into the Cubs’ bullpen with Brown being pulled after five.
Through six innings Milwaukee was just 3 for 15 with runners in scoring position.
No matter to Misiorowski, who continued to mow through Chicago’s lineup by erasing a two-out single in the fourth and leadoff singles in the fifth and sixth with a pitch count that sat at only 74.
Adding onto the advantage
Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang each singled to start the third, when William Contreras grounded into a fielder’s choice and Yelich struck out.
Garrett Mitchell followed by walking, but not before Chourio scampered in to score from third on a Brown wild pitch. Then, red-hot Jake Bauers ripped a single to right to score Contreras and stretch the Brewers’ lead to 3-0.
Misiorowski, meanwhile, dialed it in to the point he needed only 15 pitches to retire the Cubs in order in the second and third innings.
An eventful first inning
Turang drew a one-out walk, Contreras followed with a single and after Yelich struck out, Garrett Mitchell lined a single to center to score Turang and get the Brewers out to the quick 1-0 lead.
The bottom of the first should have been rather routine for Misiorowski, but after he walked leadoff man Nico Hoerner, Hamilton booted a routine double-play grounder to put two on with nobody out.
Misiorowski responded well, however, getting Alex Bregman to fly out and then striking out Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki.
Misiorowski’s velocity wasn’t as crisp as we’ve seen of late, topping out at 101.3 mph on his 11 100-mph offerings in the opening frame.
Brewers 2026 record
27-18.
Brewers lineup
Cubs lineup
Brewers probable pitchers, schedule
Brewers at Cubs, May 20 6:40 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Kyle Harrison (4-1, 2.09) vs. Chicago RHP Edward Cabrera (3-1, 4.06). TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers 3, Cubs 0: The Miz is in control, but missed chances add up
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
