Cubs' 5-run inning puts Brewers away
MILWAUKEE - It was all there for the Chicago Cubs in stunning hi-def before they even took to the Miller Park field for batting practice.
The St. Louis Cardinals made easy work of the San Francisco Giants, beating them 10-0 Thursday afternoon to improve to 79-61 and increase their lead at the time to 3 games over the Cubs in the National League Central.
The Cubs then went out and beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-5 to move back to within 2½ games of the Cardinals. They are a season-best 13 games over .500 at 76-63.
Kyle Schwarber hit a grand slam to highlight the Cubs' 5-run sixth inning, when they broke a 4-4 tie. Leadoff man Ben Zobrist, making his second start since coming off the restricted list, was on base five times, with 3 singles and 2 walks.
It seems every time the Cubs look up, the Cardinals are winning, and time is running out on the Cubs to win anything but a wild-card spot.
"When you're in a race like this, you have to assume someone's going to get really hot," said Cubs president Theo Epstein. "It happened last year (with the Brewers). It's happened this year with the Cardinals. It just underscores the importance of getting hot yourself at the right time of the year.
"We're not where we want to be in the standings. But I think we're nonetheless pretty well positioned. To be better positioned, we'd like to go back in time and make our move earlier. But we didn't. So now it's really important on us to play well, consistently well, down the stretch."
The Cubs are the chasers this year. They were the chased last season, when the Brewers caught and passed them in September.
"As much as I don't like focusing on the scoreboard and other teams, when you see a team like the Cardinals doing what they're doing, it's like we need to put our foot on the gas, too, keep up with them," said Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, back in the lineup after missing Tuesday's series finale against the Mariners with a recurrence of right-knee soreness.
"It's a very similar situation. We're kind of on the other side of it now. Maybe we need to be on this side to kind of have that urgency, 'OK, let's get going. Let's grind it out. Let's focus.' I think having all these guys, having Zo back, is going to play into that."
Cubs starting pitcher Jose Quintana (13-8) pitched 5 sluggish innings, giving up 5 hits and 4 runs. Willson Contreras (4-for-5) gave Quintana a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first. Hernan Perez touched Quintana for a 2-run homer in the second. Contreras homered leading off the top of the fourth.
Anthony Rizzo hit a 2-run double in the top of the fifth, and his sacrifice fly in the sixth came two batters ahead of Schwarber's grand slam. It was Schwarber's 34th home run of the season, giving him 81 RBI.
"It's a big series," he said. "We're fighting for the division. With this offense and this pitching staff, it's a good team."