ATLANTA — Hey, he’s new around here, so you can forgive Alex Bregman if this weekend’s Crosstown Series against the White Sox wasn’t top of mind.
The Cubs third baseman was momentarily puzzled when someone asked him, as a guy who had experienced Red Sox vs. Yankees and Astros against the world, what he thought of Chicago’s annual intramural exercise.
“What’s going on?’’ he said after the Cubs’ 2-0 win over the Braves before 36,367 in Truist Park ended their four-game losing spin. “Oh. We’ll see. I haven’t really thought too much about it. I’ll ask some questions.’’
Bregman will have an entire weekend at Rate Field to draw his own conclusions. Besides, the focus Thursday night was avoiding an 0-for-Georgia, a task made even more formidable because the Cubs were facing Chris Sale, who is a decade removed from his days as White Sox ace but is still dealing at 37. He’s about the last guy you’d want to face when you have scored just three runs in the last four games.
“He’s one of the best ever to do it in the history of the game,’’ Bregman said. “I don’t have a vote, but he’s a Hall of Famer to me. He’s unbelievable. Plus he’s a great dude.’’
Ian Happ had said the night before that Sale would be a good test. In baseball, tests are graded only on a pass-fail basis. The Cubs left fielder did his part in ensuring a satisfactory outcome, drawing a walk and scoring an unearned run off Sale in the sixth, then hitting a 428-foot home run, his 10th of the season, in the eighth.
“I’d say we did all right,’’ Happ said. “We held our own, but it’s a full team effort, and our pitching staff picking us up to get that win is the most important thing.’’
Retrofitted starter Ben Brown struck out seven and allowed just one hit in his second start, lasting four innings.
“Another really encouraging outing, and important outing,’’ manager Craig Counsell said of Brown. “What Ben has done in both of his starts is something that we feel like we can build on, and has given him a lot of confidence, for sure.’’
Four Cubs relievers, meanwhile, combined to shut out the Braves the rest of the way, with closer Daniel Palencia finally getting to light up the scoreboard with triple-digit fastballs for his third save.
Palencia, who maxed out at 101 mph, struck out the first two batters he faced in the ninth, gave up a single to Austin Riley, then induced Dominic Smith to line out to Pete-Crow Armstrong to end it.
“Tonight was a night I thought we were going to see that,’’ Counsell said. “[It’s been] weird, Daniel’s had a season where we haven’t had many save opportunities. . . . So yeah, I was pretty sure we were going to see that tonight.’’
Hoby Milner went six-up, six-down after replacing Brown, Phil Maton struck out two in the seventh, and Jacob Webb handled the top of the Braves’ order in the eighth.
“I would probably say I was most happy for how Phil Maton pitched tonight,’’ Counsell said of the reliever who had been knocked around the night before. “I think when you have a bad night as a major-league reliever, our high-leverage reliever, you’ve got to go out the next night and get those outs, and Phil went out and got those outs.’’
Amaya back in lineup
Catcher Miguel Amaya, who had complained of some back tightness Friday and hadn’t played in a week, was back in the starting lineup Thursday and went 1-for-4.
With left-hander Sale on the mound, manager Craig Counsell installed Matt Shaw in right field and Seiya Suzuki served as DH.
Bregman, who homered Monday night and had two singles Tuesday night, moved up a spot in the order, batting second. Bregman started the season in the 2-spot but hadn’t hit there since April 26, with Moises Ballesteros getting the majority of starts there.
Schedule updates
The Cubs announced a change in starting times for two games, one on the road, the second at home. The Memorial Day game (May 25) against the Pirates, originally scheduled to be a night game, is now scheduled for a 12:35 p.m. start. The start time of the Cubs’ game on Sunday night, June 7 at home against the Giants has been pushed back 10 minutes, to 7:30 p.m.
