Chourio's 9th-Inning Blast Rescues Brewers in Extra-Inning Thriller
Jackson Chourio hit a 394-foot, two-run homer in the ninth inning to erase a two-run Cubs deficit, swinging Milwaukee's win probability from 4% to 55% in a single swing. The Brewers finished the job in the tenth, walking off 4-3 on a Luis Lara single.
The first inning set the tone for a game that refused to stay settled. Michael Busch singled to right to score the first run, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead, but Milwaukee answered immediately when Brice Turang singled to center to score Chourio and knot it at one. From there, both starting pitchers largely held serve — Jacob Misiorowski worked 6.1 innings, allowing just 1 earned run on 4 hits while striking out 9, and David Peterson gave Chicago 4.1 innings before Aaron Civale took over and was dominant, throwing 2.0 hitless, scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts.
Chicago looked like it had the game in hand when Carson Kelly doubled to center in the ninth, scoring Hoerner and Ramirez to push the lead to 3-1. At that point, Milwaukee's win probability sat at just 4%. What happened next was the story of the night: Chourio drove a 394-foot home run to left, scoring Yelich, and suddenly it was 3-3. A two-run deficit erased in one at-bat, win probability rocketing to 55%. Chourio finished 4-for-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored — the kind of line that wins games, and on this night, it did exactly that.
The tenth inning was brief and decisive. With Turang on base, Lara singled to left to score him, and Milwaukee had its 4-3 walk-off. Turang, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI on the night, scored the winning run after spending most of the game as one of the quieter contributors to a Brewers offense that needed every bit of it. Chicago's bullpen — Civale aside — couldn't hold what looked like a comfortable late lead, and that appears to be the difference in a game the Cubs had every reason to win. DL Hall closed it out for Milwaukee with 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits. On a night when both offenses were largely kept in check, Chourio's ninth-inning shot was the only moment that truly mattered.