Chourio's Single Breaks Chicago's Back, Brewers Hold On 4-3
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a 400-foot shot to right center in the ninth to make it a one-run game, but Milwaukee had just enough cushion to survive. The Brewers took down the Cubs 4-3 on September 7, with Jackson Chourio's two-RBI single in the eighth proving to be the decisive blow.
The game turned on a dime in the fifth. Pedro Ramirez gave Chicago the lead with a 407-foot blast to left, but Milwaukee answered immediately — Mitchell singled to center to score Lara and knot it at one. For two innings, that's where it sat, both sides searching for separation. Then in the seventh, Bregman singled to center to score Crow-Armstrong and push the Cubs back in front, 2-1. That hit swung Milwaukee's home win probability from 55% to 36% — the biggest momentum shift of the night — and it looked like Chicago was in the driver's seat.
Milwaukee had other ideas. The eighth inning is where this game was decided. Chourio singled to right, scoring both Mitchell and Ortiz to flip the lead to 3-2 Milwaukee. Before Chicago could exhale, Yelich added a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Chourio and pushing it to 4-2. Two batters, two runs, and suddenly the Cubs were chasing. The story of the night was Milwaukee's ability to absorb that seventh-inning gut punch and respond with a four-run swing across two plate appearances.
Matthew Boyd was genuinely good for Chicago — 7.0 innings, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, 7 strikeouts — and on most nights that's a winning line. Robert Gasser exited after 4.2 innings with 1 earned run allowed, and Milwaukee's bullpen slammed the door from there: Chad Patrick threw 1.1 scoreless innings, and Abner Uribe handled the ninth cleanly. Crow-Armstrong's 400-foot homer in the final frame made it 4-3 and gave the Cubs a pulse, but that's as close as they'd get. Crow-Armstrong finished 2-for-4 with a homer, an RBI, and two runs scored — the kind of performance that looks even better in a loss. Milwaukee gets the win it needed, and Chicago's Boyd deserved better than a no-decision on a night he gave his team every chance to win.