MILWAUKEE — When Cubs star right fielder Kyle Tucker paused after sliding over second base, his head still down as he gathered himself, it looked for a moment like the Cubs’ luck had gone from bad to worse.
But after left-hander Shota Imanaga left the Cubs’ 4-0 loss Sunday to the Brewers with what the team called a strained left hamstring, Tucker brushed off questions about his own visit with a trainer in the ninth inning.
“It was just an awkward, kind of hard slide on my right thigh, hip area,” said Tucker, who went 2-for-3 with a walk. “Didn’t feel the greatest, but it’s all right. I feel good. I’ll be in there [Monday].”
The series ended on a sour note. Imanaga’s injury, depending on the severity, could have extended consequences for an already short rotation. Adding insult to injury, the Cubs were shut out for just the second time this season.
Tucker’s awkward headfirst slide got him safely to second as the Cubs threatened to mount a comeback. But after their first two hitters reached base, Brewers closer Trevor Megill retired the next three.
“We did well this road trip,” Tucker said. “Today, obviously, we’d rather put up some more runs than none and rather win the game. But we can’t complain too much. Won the series and just got to take the good out of the bad and move on.”
Zooming out, the loss capped a 4-2 road trip against the Pirates and Brewers, as the Cubs faced National League Central competition for the first time this season.
The Cubs (21-14) lead the division by three games over the Reds. The Brewers (17-18) are third, four games back.
Zobrist’s influence
Ben Zobrist, who spent the last four seasons of his career with the Cubs and was the 2016 World Series MVP, walked over to Pete Crow-Armstrong in the visitors’ dugout Friday as the young outfielder was sending a friend a long voice message with baseball advice.
But there were a couple questions from his friend that Crow-Armstrong wasn’t quite sure how to answer, he told the Sun-Times. That’s where the conversation with Zobrist began.
“Any conversation I’ve had with Zo hasn’t been about a swing, this, that,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s been about how you conduct yourself with umpires, how you learn from your at-bats, how you set yourself up to play every day. That’s the coolest part about this organization, probably, is having guys come back, and the message kind of stays the same. And maybe that’s just because good people just circulated in and out here.
“Zo’s the man. I really enjoy talking to Zo.”
Notes
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson extended his hitting streak to six games with a line-drive single up the middle in the third inning. He has a 1.258 OPS in that span.
• The loss snapped the Cubs’ three-game winning streak. Unable to complete the sweep, the Cubs still haven’t swept a series against the Brewers since August 2019.