CHICAGO — Prior to Saturday’s game against the Brewers, Cubs manager Craig Counsell acknowledged that the lineup was in a lull, while awaiting the respective comebacks of outfielders Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger.
“Chris Morel is probably the exception,” Counsell said.
Morel then backed his manager’s assessment, launching a homer in his third consecutive game to help the Cubs pull off a 6-5 victory at Wrigley Field. Morel was not alone, though. Nico Hoerner and Patrick Wisdom also went deep, helping Chicago hold off a late rally by their rivals to the north.
In the hours before Saturday’s win, both Suzuki (right oblique) and Bellinger (two fractured ribs) continued to ramp up their baseball activities. Counsell noted that both outfielders have a realistic chance to rejoin the Major League group “next week,” barring any setbacks. Entering Saturday, the Cubs had a .214/.281/.315 slash line in the 10 games played with both on the IL.
Hoerner led off the first inning with a blast against Brewers starter Tobias Myers, who piled up 37 pitches in the opening frame and was gone after three. In the third, Morel crushed an 0-2 offering from Myers deep to left-center for a two-run shot, giving the third baseman a team-leading seven homers on the year. Wisdom added his first homer of the year in the sixth.
After righty Jameson Taillon gave the Cubs six scoreless innings — lowering his ERA to 1.13 through four starts since coming off the injured list — Milwaukee’s lineup broke through against the Chicago bullpen. In the seventh, five Brewers reached to get a four-run push rolling, including a two-run homer from Blake Perkins against Cubs righty Keegan Thompson.
