Seiya Suzuki homered for the second straight game since coming off the injured list as the visiting Chicago Cubs claimed an 8-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Suzuki, who had an inside-the-park homer Monday after he had missed almost five weeks, hit a two-run homer in the fifth Tuesday to put the Cubs up 4-2. He also had an RBI single in a four-run sixth.
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks came out after three innings with right shoulder soreness. Hendricks allowed two runs on two hits with two walks in a 69-pitch outing. Matt Swarmer (2-3) got the win with two scoreless innings in relief.
With one out in the fifth, Nico Hoerner reached on a two-base throwing error by shortstop Willy Adames. Ian Happ followed with an RBI double that bounced off third baseman Luis Urias. Suzuki then lined the first pitch down the left-field line for his sixth homer.
Chicago broke it open in the sixth. Yan Gomes and Nelson Velazquez opened with consecutive singles. Rafael Ortega's one-out triple into the right-field corner made it 6-2, chasing starter Jason Alexander.
Happ drew a two-out walk, then stole second, with Ortega scoring from third ahead of the throw back home. Suzuki's RBI single to left made it 8-2.
Swarmer walked the first three batters to open the sixth, but Rowan Wick came on and got a lineout and inning-ending double play.
Milwaukee scored a run in the ninth on Victor Caratini's RBI single.
Alexander (2-1) allowed seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings as his ERA jumped from 3.82 to 4.75.
Rowdy Tellez staked the Brewers to a 2-0 lead in the first with his 17th homer after Christian Yelich had walked. Each of Tellez's last 10 hits have gone for extra bases, tying the franchise mark set by Ryan Thompson in 2002.
The Cubs got a run back in the fourth on Velazquez's RBI groundout with the bases loaded.
--Field Level Media
Chi. Cubs | Milwaukee | |
Kyle Hendricks | Player | Jason Alexander |
No Decision | W/L | Loss |
3.0 | IP | 5.1 |
4 | Strikeouts | 2 |
2 | Hits | 8 |
6.00 | ERA | 10.12 |
Chi. Cubs | Milwaukee | |
Rafael Ortega | Player | Jace Peterson |
2 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
4 | TB | 3 |
.667 | Avg | .500 |