Cubs drop first game of important series to Brewers 8-4

MILWAUKEE — The Brewers took sole ownership of the best record in the major leagues at 63-43 as the Cubs fell 8-4 to their division rival Monday night at American Family Field.

The Cubs made the first inning uncomfortable for Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski, scoring three runs and pushing his pitch count to 40. Leadoff hitter Michael Busch got his bat on a 101.1  mph fastball for a single into center field. After Kyle Tucker worked a walk, Seiya Suzuki drove a curveball right back at Misiorowski, hitting him in the back of the right leg on a hop for a single.

Busch scored on a wild pitch. Then, with runners on second and third with two outs, Ian Happ hit a swinging bunt, which Misiorowski fielded before sailing a throw over first baseman Andrew Vaughn, which allowed the Cubs (62-44) to tack on two more runs.

However, the Cubs’ offense quieted after that, and Misiorowski bounced back to throw three clean innings before handing the ball over to the bullpen.

Before that, the Brewers rallied for four runs in the third inning against Cubs starter Matthew Boyd (11-4) to pull into the lead, scoring on an RBI double by Christian Yelich, a bases-loaded single by Isaac Collins and a sacrifice fly by Bryce Turang for a 4-3 advantage.

Boyd gave up one more run, a solo homer from Vaughn in the fifth, for a total of five earned runs in five-plus innings. He also walked five batters.

While the Cubs only scored one run against the Brewers’ bullpen, on Tucker’s RBI single off Jared Koenig in the seventh, the Brewers surged for three more runs off Cubs relievers. Sal Frelick hit a solo homer off veteran Ryan Pressly in the sixth, and Yelich hit a two-run blast off Chris Flexen in the seventh.