Schwarber leads Cubs past Brewers

[September 06, 2019]  Kyle Schwarber capped a five-run sixth inning with a mammoth grand slam, and the Chicago Cubs extended their road winning streak to six games with a 10-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night.

Willson Contreras fell a triple shy of the cycle in his second game back from a hamstring injury and had four hits. The catcher had an RBI double, hit a solo homer and hit an infield single before Schwarber homered and doubled in the eighth.

Ben Zobrist reached five times by going 3-for-3 with a pair of walks and scoring three times.

Anthony Rizzo drove in three runs with a two-run double and hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the fifth as the Cubs won for the 12th time in 17 games. Chicago remained 2 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the NL Central and moved within two games of Washington for the first wild-card spot.

David Bote added a solo homer in the ninth as Chicago totaled 16 hits.

Hernan Perez, Yasmani Grandal and Cory Spangenberg homered for Milwaukee, which dropped five games back of the Cubs for the second wild-card spot. The Brewers also fell to 9-16 in their last 25 games since Aug. 10 when they last held the lead for the second wild-card spot.

Jose Quintana (13-8) benefited from the five-run inning and improved to 9-1 in his last 12 starts. The left-hander allowed four runs on five hits in five innings.

Milwaukee's Chase Anderson allowed two runs on five hits in four innings.

The Brewers lifted Anderson when his spot in the order came up in a 2-2 game with Oswaldo Arcia on second. Pinch hitter David Freitas struck out.

Cubs pitcher Jose Quintana (62) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Milwaukee forged a 4-4 tie on Grandal's 23rd homer but Quintana stranded pinch hitter Tyler Austin to end the fifth.

Chicago then busted the game open against Matt Albers (5-5) and Drew Pomeranz.

The Cubs loaded the bases against Albers on two singles and a one-out walk to Kris Bryant. Rizzo snapped the tie with a sacrifice fly to right field and following Contreras' slow roller, Schwarber hammered Pomeranz's first pitch into the back rows of the second deck in right-center field for his third career grand slam.

The Cubs played the game without Javier Baez (jammed left thumb) and placed closer Craig Kimbrel (elbow inflammation) on the injured list before the game.

Milwaukee played the game without Mike Moustakas (sore left wrist) and lost catcher Manny Pina because of head discomfort.

--Field Level Media

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