Thanks to Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura, the first round of anticipated matchups with recently acquired Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel went decidedly in favor of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Yelich and Hiura on Saturday hit home runs in the 10th inning off Kimbrel to rally the Brewers past Chicago 5-3, the Brewers’ second consecutive comeback win over the Cubs.
Yelich opened the 10th inning with his league-leading 36th homer, tying it at 3 runs. Pinch-hitter Tyler Saladino drew a walk from Kimbrel (0-2) and Hiura followed with his 11th homer, driving a breaking ball the opposite way for his first career walk-off.
Photo: AFP
“He’s a tremendous pitcher as he’s proven throughout his career. Once the Cubs signed him, we knew that we were going to get a lot of him,” Hiura said of Kimbrel. “He got me in a hole and I was just trying to put the ball in play, but able to put the barrel on it.”
Hiura, the Brewers’ first-round draft choice in 2017, had five homers during his first 17-game stint with the Brewers, and has hit six since being called up again on June 28 — one day after the Cubs called up Kimbrel, who was signed as a free agent in early June.
“We came back, they snatched it back and we had a great 10th off Kimbrel — and that’s not easy to do,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “I thought it was great. Keston’s ball was an absolute laser. That was a breaking ball that was an absolute laser. You don’t see a breaking ball hit like that. It shows you how special he is.”
The Brewers and Cubs are one game behind the National League Central-leading Cardinals.
“Craig had a tough night tonight,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “They got a bouncer down the first-base line that ties it up, but that happens. We come back. We hold serve, hit a homer and they beat us. That’s called baseball, man. It just happened to night against us. I’m not going to sit here and hammer any of my guys.”
Hiura grounded a tying double in the eighth when the Brewers erased a 2-0 deficit. Ben Gamel opened the inning with a pinch-hit homer off Steve Cishek, Lorenzo Cain followed with a double and scored on Hiura’s double.
Albert Almora Jr had put the Cubs up 3-2 when he opened the top of the 10th inning with his 11th homer, connecting against Freddy Peralta (5-3).
The Cubs wasted a superb outing by Jon Lester, making his 400th career start, who allowed just four singles over seven scoreless innings.
Anthony Rizzo staked the Cubs to a 2-0 lead with his 21st homer, a two-run shot in the third inning off Chase Anderson after Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch. Rizzo, who grounded out in the first inning, entered hitting .048 against Anderson, with one hit in 21 career at-bats.
The Brewers briefly appeared to tie it in the sixth inning when Huira’s drive near the left-field foul pole initially was ruled a home run with Yelich aboard.
“I was watching it and I could tell it was foul,” Hiura said. “That one felt good, though, but it was definitely foul.”
Also on Saturday, it was:
‧ Astros 8, Cardinals 2
‧ Dodgers 9, Nationals 3
‧ Red Sox 9, Yankees 5
‧ Mets 3, Pirates 0
‧ Blue Jays 10, Rays 9
‧ Orioles 8, Angels 7
‧ Indians 9, Royals 1
‧ A’s 5, Rangers 4
‧ Padres 5, Giants 1
‧ Reds 3, Rockies 1
‧ Braves 15, Phillies 7
‧ White Sox 5, Twins 1
‧ Diamondbacks 9, Marlins 2
‧ Mariners 8, Tigers 1
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