For the second game in a row the Milwaukee Brewers rallied back late, but the Chicago Cubs were able to pull out a 7-6 victory in 11 innings on Tuesday, thanks to two double plays by outfielder Ian Happ.
Happ threw out two runners at the plate in extra innings to preserve the win for the Cubs.
The Brewers fell behind early as starting pitcher Wade Miley gave up four runs in five innings and Chicago held a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning.
The score was 6-2 after the Cubs tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the eighth, but the Brewers came back for the second day in a row to tie the game with four runs late. Christian Yelich delivered a key two-out single in the ninth that was followed by a sac fly by William Contreras to tie the game at 6-6 after nine innings.
After a scoreless tenth inning, when Happ threw out Jahmai Jones who was trying to score from second on a single by Owen Miller, the Cubs took the decisive lead in the top of the 11th inning on an infield single by Nico Hoerner. That set up Happ’s heroics in the bottom of the frame, gunning down Miller who was tagging up to score on a fly ball to left field.
The Brewers and Cubs play game three of the four-game series Wednesday night at 7:10 p.m. at American Family Field with Adrian Houser going for Milwaukee (3-2) and Justin Steele (9-2) for Chicago.