The Brewers took the series opener of their weekend series with the Cubs Friday night, winning 4-2 as Colin Rea had a solid start and Jackson Chourio provided all of the run support with a go-ahead grand slam.
Rea got off to an inauspicious start, hitting Nico Hoerner and walking Michael Busch to put two runners on with no outs. He escaped the jam with a double-play ground ball from Cody Bellinger and a strikeout of Seiya Suzuki.
Neither team got a hit until the bottom of the third when Andruw Monasterio lined a two-out double to left. He was stranded at second as Brice Turang grounded out to close the frame.
The Cubs struck first in the top of the fourth as Suzuki took Rea deep, his 10th homer of the season to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. The Cubs tacked on another in the inning, as Ian Happ doubled, Christopher Morel was hit by a pitch, and Dansby Swanson brought Happ home on an RBI single. Rea induced another double play, this time a grounder from Pete Crow-Armstrong to get away with two runs allowed.
The bottom of the fourth was the first time Milwaukee managed to put together anything resembling a rally against Jameson Taillon, as William Contreras walked before Christian Yelich hit into a force out that allowed him to reach. Willy Adames flew out for the second out of the inning, but Yelich stole second, Sal Frelick reached on catcher interference, and Rhys Hoskins hit an infield single to load the bases with two outs. Jackson Chourio took a 1-2 hanging sweeper over the wall in left for a grand slam, Milwaukee’s third in four games and fourth in six games to make it 4-2 Brewers.
Rea capitalized on the run support, striking out the side in the fifth. He made an error in the top of the sixth, but he struck out Suzuki again to mark the end of his day. Rea went 5 1⁄3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks with a pair of hit-by-pitches and eight strikeouts. Elvis Peguero came on in relief and immediately induced an inning-ending flyout double play, as Happ flew out to center with Cody Bellinger in motion to steal second.
The Cubs threatened against Peguero in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs before Jared Koenig entered to induce a flyout from Patrick Wisdom, who pinch hit for Busch.
Neither team put up any more offense in the final inning and a half, as Trevor Megill set down Morel, Swanson, and Crow-Armstrong to close out the game for his 17th save of the season. Chourio led the offense with two hits and four RBIs, while Hoskins, Monasterio, and Turang had a hit each.
Rea, Peguero, Koenig, and Megill combined to allow two runs on five hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts.
The Brewers will go for the series win on Saturday afternoon Tobias Myers looks to keep his strong month of June going. He’ll face off against Justin Steele at 3:10 p.m. That game will be televised on Fox Sports 1 and Bally Sports Wisconsin.