Nearly two weeks ago, the Chicago Cubs were riding the high of their second 10-game winning streak of the season.
How quickly things can turn.
For the first time since April 30, during their most recent streak of 10 straight victories, the Cubs do not sit at the top of the National League Central division after Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, who leapfrog their rivals. The Cubs have lost four consecutive games, while winning just two of their last 10, and look to avoid getting swept Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
“Every year has periods like that,” Ian Happ said after going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and one walk. “I do think that if we had the same record we had today, but we just won every single series, it would feel a bit different, a little bit more consistent. There’s pros and cons to winning 10 straight twice and having the record we have, but I think when you reflect on the whole thing, we’re (nine games) over .500 and sitting in a good spot.
“If you would have told us this was going to be our record at this point in the season, I think everybody would have signed up for it, so move on from here and attack tomorrow.”
The offense again fell short in big spots, a frustrating trend within this skid.
Hard-throwing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski certainly made it tough on the Cubs, giving up just three hits and one walk while striking out eight in six innings. They had a chance in the first inning to get to Misiorowski before he could settle in. Nico Hoerner’s walk and Michael Busch’s reaching on an error immediately put pressure on Misiorowski, but he got Alex Bregman to fly out and struck out Happ and Seiya Suzuki to end the inning. The Cubs didn’t put another runner in scoring position until the eighth.
“I thought we took some good swings and just missed some balls, and then he got locked in, and so you’re stuck in between trying to get into a count or attack him early because he’s got obviously strikeout stuff, and he just pumped a lot of tons of strikes, and you’ve got to be aggressive,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Sitting there hitting with two strikes, you’re going to be in trouble.”
The most encouraging part of Tuesday’s loss came from starter Ben Brown’s performance. The sequence from the fourth inning won’t stand out within Brown’s final pitching line, but he showed important development that has big-picture implications.
Too often in the last two years, a good Brown outing would be derailed by a one-inning implosion. The Cubs believe the addition of a sinker and using a changeup to complement his fastball-curveball combination would help decrease the volatility with less predictability in his pitch mix.
Brown faced his toughest challenge since being moved to the rotation. He entered the game riding back-to-back four shutout-inning starts against the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves. Milwaukee put Brown and the Cubs in an early hole, scoring three runs within the first three innings, and the Brewers were positioned to blow the game open in the fourth.
Pete Crow-Armstrong dropped a routine fly ball to open the inning, and shortstop David Hamilton reached on an infield single when his bunt ricocheted high off home plate that Brown fielded, but the throw didn’t beat Hamilton to first. The 2025 version of Brown might have seen the inning spiral away from him after that sequence.
The right-hander did not let that happen Tuesday. Facing the top of the Brewers’ order, Brown struck out Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang, then forced William Contreras to ground out to end the fourth and keep the Cubs’ deficit at 3-0.
Counsell was proud of Brown’s performance.
“I thought Ben made some pretty good pitches, even on some hits, but he got in some trouble, and then he’s got the strikeout in him, which is a big deal, and he showed himself that as he got out of a couple innings, that kept us in the game,” Counsell said. “So Ben’s making progress. I thought it was another good outing, and not every outing is going to be breezing through it, and I was very happy with the progress he’s made and where he’s sitting at right now.”
Brown got through five innings with three runs allowed, putting his season ERA at 2.09 and giving the Cubs a chance to try to chip away at Milwaukee’s lead.
“I feel like I limited the damage well,” Brown said. “Obviously, I think if there’s one thing I could have done better is after the wild pitch in the third probably I could execute a little bit better after that, but other than that, I think I threw the ball pretty well tonight. There’s definitely things to learn from and grow from but pretty happy with the execution.”
Misiorowski made that task almost impossible. His fastball, sitting at 99.6 mph and topping out at 101.5 mph, produced 14 called strikes, six whiffs and six of his eight strikeouts. The Cubs only put one runner in scoring position during Misiorowski’s six frames.
“One of the unique things about a guy that throws 100 plus is that you don’t have to be too fine if it’s in the zone, a guy can pitch with that pitch,” Happ said. “So that’s why he’s been as effective as he has.”
The Cubs will lament their chances to pull out a win despite Misiorowski’s dominance. The first three batters reached to begin the eighth with Hoerner’s single getting them on the board. Busch and Bregman followed with strikeouts looking against the lefty Aaron Ashby, but the Cubs again threatened with a big inning when Happ walked and Suzuki drove in a run.
Right-hander Chad Patrick came in to face pinch hitter Michael Conforto with the bases loaded and quickly snuffed out the Cubs’ rally. Conforto grounded into a force out to end the eighth, and the Cubs were retired in order in the ninth by Abner Uribe.
“We’ve got 115 to go, and they beat us the first two games, they beat us for sure, flat out,” Counsell said. “We’ve got to come out tomorrow and try to salvage a game.”
