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Walk this way: Too many free passes allow Brewers to waltz out of Wrigley Field with 9-5 victory

Get ahead in the count and don't walk too many hitters.

That's Baseball 101, but the Cubs failed at both Sunday during a 9-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field on Sunday.

Starting pitcher Jameson Taillon threw first-pitch balls to nine of the 19 hitters he faced, reliever Julian Merryweather issued 2 free passes that opened the floodgates to a 5-run sixth inning, and the Cubs lost 9-5 in the rubber game of their season-opening series with Milwaukee.

"If we're gonna get beat, let's get beat in the zone and not beat ourselves," said manager David Ross. "A lot of that is guys just touching the bump for the first time. Maybe some of the adrenaline, the cold weather - things like that.

"I don't think that's how we're built. But we've definitely got to stay away from free passes."

The Cubs ranked 12th in the National League at 3.33 walks per game in 2022 en route to a 74-88 campaign. They issued 15 to the Brewers over the weekend.

It wasn't just the walks, though, as Brice Turang produced an RBI double on a 2-0 count in the second inning, and Christian Yelich opened the third with a single on a 2-0 count.

"Command was a little shaky," said Taillon, who went 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA with the Yankees in 2022 and signed a four-year, $68 million contract in the off-season. "But overall felt fine. I don't think I need to go change anything drastic - just have better command next start."

The Cubs had a 2-1 lead after two innings thanks to an RBI single from Dansby Swanson in the first and a HR by Patrick Wisdom in the second.

Milwaukee plated solo runs in the third and fourth, then lit up Julian Merryweather, whom the Cubs claimed off waivers from Toronto in January. After Merryweather retired catcher Victor Caratini on a groundout, he walked Turang, gave up a single to No. 9 hitter Joey Wiemer and walked leadoff batter Christian Yelich to load the bases.

Jesse Winker then lined a 2-RBI single to center field to make it 5-2, and Willy Adames followed with an RBI single.

By the time Ross strolled to the mound to remove Merryweather, the Cubs were down 8-2. Merryweather, 31, had appeared in only 47 MLB games before this season. He had a 5.64 ERA in 52.2 innings.

The Cubs tried to make it interesting by loading the bases with nobody out in the eighth, and it appeared for a moment that Yan Gomes had belted a grand slam to right field. But the towering fly ball was snared at the wall and resulted in a mere sacrifice fly.

That only cut the Brewers' lead to 9-4, and although the Cubs added another run on Cody Bellinger's RBI groundout, they did no further damage.

The Cubs (1-2) did play good defense, with right fielder Wisdom throwing out Winker, who was attempting to stretch a single into a double in the third inning. Also, shortstop Swanson threw out Garrett Mitchell at home after fielding a ground ball off Caratini's bat.

Despite dropping two of three to Milwaukee, both Taillon and Wisdom expect good things going forward.

"When we're in the strike zone we're gonna be pretty good," Taillon said of the pitching staff. "Got a lot of good arms; a lot of different looks that we can show.

"Dansby (7-for-12) had a heckuva series. We're gonna play defense, we're gonna run the bases, we're gonna grind out at-bats.

"I liked what I saw. I mean obviously you wish you won the series and come out with two or three wins. But overall there's a lot of good things to take away from it."

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