Brewers close in on another division title with win over Cubs

MILWAUKEE — In this MVP season for Pete Crow-Armstrong, very little of his “MVPing” has been at the expense of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cubs’ star entered Monday’s game at American Family Field with a .108 average and .422 OPS against Brewers pitching in 2026, and a .164 average and .620 OPS against them over his young career.

Was there something the Brewers know that the rest of the league doesn’t?

“We’re lucky,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Monday morning before a 4-3 Brewers win in the opener of a three-game series at American Family Field.

“This guy has raked everybody,” Murphy added. “He’s the best offensive player in the game this year, no question about it. Throw in his defense, his base running … I mean we play them a lot, more than other teams, but I don’t know of a better player. It feels like he’s played well against us.”

Crow-Armstrong homered and stole two bases Monday to continue his quest for a 40-40 season, but it wasn’t enough against a Brewers team that does all the little things well.

Trailing 2-1 in the eighth, the Brewers took the lead on Jackson Chourio’s two-run single off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn, in what turned into a three-run inning. Crow-Armstrong’s solo home run, his 41st of the season, kept the Cubs alive with two outs in the ninth, before Chourio robbed Seiya Suzuki of a hit to end it.

“In the end it’s a loss,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Pete had another nice day, obviously he’s just playing at a super-high level. Not enough.”

The glitz has worn off a bit in the Cubs-Brewers season series, though booing Crow-Armstrong at American Family Field now rivals booing Counsell on the Noise-O-Meter.

An early September series that once looked like it could be a showdown for the division is now just another bump in the road for the Brewers as they count down to the clincher.

The Sausage Race on Monday was closer than the NL Central standings, where the Brewers lead the Cubs by eight games. For the record, the Chorizo strolled home with the win in the Sausage Race, which was mostly jogging.

The Brewers’ magic number to clinch a postseason berth was reduced to four, and their magic number to clinch the Central is now at 10. The Cubs also fell 1/2 game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the first wild-card spot, which is significant for home-field advantage in the wild-card round.

“I haven’t even really looked at the standings to be completely honest with you,” Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “We’ve got to win the next game and take that mentality from here on out until the end.”

Bregman’s two-out single in the eighth gave the Cubs a late lead, and Matthew Boyd was dealing. But Counsell brought Boyd out to start the bottom of the eighth, a rare move by the Cubs manager. No Cubs starter has lasted more than seven innings this season, and until Monday, only Shota Imanaga has been left in to start the eighth.

Boyd said he felt good, and after allowing only one run on four hits, Counsell kept the faith that he could retire the first two hitters. Was there any doubt he’d stay in?

“I’m in the game until they tell me not to,” Boyd replied. “That’s my mentality.”

But Boyd walked Garrett Mitchell to start the inning, then gave up a double to Joey Ortiz before being lifted for Zeferjahn. With a pulled-in infield, Chourio lined a shot off Zeferjahn past second baseman Pedro Ramírez to bring home the tying and go-ahead runs, muting the Cubs fans and cranking up Brewers fans in the crowd of 42,368.

It was the 24th blown save by the Cubs’ bullpen, which is going through a collective slump at the worst possible time. The Brewers lead the Cubs 7-4 in the season series, with two games remaining, and have won three of five in the last week, basically ending their long-shot chance of winning the division.

“We still have two real important games after this,” Boyd said. “It’s tight baseball, and for good reason. That’s what you want this time of year.”

Crow-Armstrong’s two stolen bases gave him 35 for the year, leaving him five shy of becoming the seventh 40-40 player in history. His steal in the eighth preceded Bregman’s go-ahead single.

Would Counsell encourage Crow-Armstrong to reach the coveted 40-40 club?

“Not at all,” he said. “I encourage him to take the right risks. I could care less what his numbers are.”

Naturally, 40-40 is a number Crow-Armstrong would love to have after reaching the 40-home-run mark on Sunday in Miami. The only 40-40 members are Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Ohtani.

“You can’t not have those goals as a player, that’s not possible,” Counsell said. “He’s human. It’s normal. The bases will be there (to steal).”

But individual goals are secondary, as Crow-Armstrong has repeatedly said.

For the Cubs, the only thing that matters now is getting into the postseason. With the Brewers putting them in the rearview mirror, they’re now battling for postseason seeding. Losing the first wild-card spot means playing the wild-card series on the road, so every game is increasingly important.

Counsell showed that Monday by keeping Boyd in the game to start the eighth instead of going to his beleaguered bullpen. The move didn’t work, and now the degree of difficulty increases on Tuesday when the Cubs face Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski.

The Brewers may be in the driver’s seat, but they also have something to play for — a first-round bye with a No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Murphy’s young starters are looking a little gassed, with some reaching career highs in innings pitched.

It’s not the time to worry, but to enjoy the ride.

“They don’t know any better,” Murphy said. “They only know they’re running out of innings because somebody is telling them. They don’t know it’s a bad thing … The thing I’m super grateful for is that when you’re working with young pitchers and around young pitchers, it’s really fun. It’s more of a gift, an opportunity and a possibility more than it is a problem.”