Ben Zobrist looks like he’s found himself a new place atop the Chicago Cubs’ lineup, as he reached base five times and scored three runs in a victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night.
Zobrist went 3-for-3 and drew a pair of walks before being removed from the game in a double switch, and with the Cubs’ struggles to find a man to put in the lead-off spot, he could find himself there again sooner rather than later.
Kyle Schwarber hit a grand slam in the contest, his 34th home run of the season, and Willson Contreras and David Bote both hit home runs to face the Cubs’ offensive onslaught.
Anthony Rizzo drove in three runs, hitting an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.
José Quintana continued his strong pitching against the Brewers this season, striking out five batters and allowing four earned runs in five innings of work.
The Cubs got on the board early when Contreras socked an RBI double to left field, scoring Zobrist to give Chicago the 1-0 edge.
After Hernan Perez hit a two-run homer in the second to put the Brewers in front, the Cubs’ tied things up with a Contreras bomb to right in the fourth. Rizzo hit a two-run double in the fifth to give the Cubs back the lead, but it was short-lived as Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run home run in the fifth to knot things up at 4-4.
Chicago Baseball
Rizzo gave the Cubs back the lead in the sixth with a sacrifice fly, but the big blow came thanks to Schwarber, who launched a grand slam deep into the right field stands to give the Cubs a 9-4 lead.
The Cubs and Brewers will play again on Friday night at Miller Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
