Brewers edge Cubs 1-0 on ninth-inning sac fly

[September 12, 2020]    Ryan Braun hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 1-0 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs on Friday night.

The Brewers had runners at first and third base with no outs when Braun drove a fly ball to deep right field. Jason Heyward hauled in the catch but did not attempt a throw to home plate as Christian Yelich scored easily for the win.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Rowan Wick (50) hands the ball to manager David Ross during a pitching change in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Yelich had drawn a leadoff walk and moved to third on Jedd Gyorko's single to right against Rowan Wick (0-1). Jeremy Jeffress came in to face Braun, but his third pitch was the last of the game.

Milwaukee (20-22) won its second game in a row, both shutouts, and moved within four games of the first-place Cubs in the National League Central. The Brewers notched their fourth shutout victory of the season.

Chicago (26-20) dropped to 13-17 in its past 30 games after opening the season with a league-best 13-3 mark. The Cubs have been shut out in two of the past three games after not being blanked over the first 43 games of the season.

Josh Hader (1-1) earned the win with a perfect inning. He and fellow reliever Devin Williams followed starter Brandon Woodruff, who struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings while yielding just one hit, two hit batters and no walks.

Cubs starter Jon Lester tossed six scoreless innings while striking out eight. He gave up three hits and two walks.

Ian Happ broke up Woodruff's no-hit bid to lead off the sixth. He beat the shift with an infield single.

The Brewers threatened to go ahead in the first before Lester settled down. Avisail Garcia hit a leadoff single and Gyorko reached on a two-out error by second baseman David Bote, but Lester got Braun to ground out to end the inning.

In the fifth, Milwaukee threatened again with runners at first and third with one out. The Brewers ended up without a run after Garcia was caught stealing and Keston Hiura struck out swinging.

Chicago had an opportunity to grab a lead in the eighth but could not convert. Kris Bryant belted a triple off the base of the wall in right-center field with two outs, but Williams struck out Anthony Rizzo to end the inning.

Javier Baez received the day off for the Cubs as Nico Hoerner started at shortstop and went 0-for-3. Baez, who is hitting .196, entered late for defense in left field but didn't bat.

--Field Level Media

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