Lackey Finds Early Trouble, Cubs Fall to Brewers

John Lackey (7-7, 3.79 ERA) gave up a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to Jonathan Lucroy and another long ball to Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the bottom of the fourth inning. That made the score 3-0.

The Chicago Cubs (58-38) offense couldn’t get anything going all night, with the exception of an RBI single in the seventh inning by Addison Russell which made the score 3-1. And that’s the way it would remain until the bottom of the eighth inning.

Mike Montgomery is very likely going to want to forget his first outing as a Cub. He was brought in to face Kirk Nieuwenhuis with runners on first and second with one out and he promptly gave up a three-run home run. If the Cubs had any real chance to get back into the game, it vanished with one swing of the bat.

The Cubs fall to the Brewers 6-1 (Box Score).

Stats that mattered

• Lackey was rough early but ended up settling down, as usual – 6.0IP, 3R, 5H, 2BB, 5Ks, 2HR
• The bullpen let this one get out of reach – 2IP, 3R, 3H, 1BB, 1K, 1HR
• The Cubs’s bats went cold. They could only muster six hits – one extra base hit – and 2 walks

Bottom line

John Lackey hasn’t won a game since June 8. In his last four games he’s given up three or more runs in the first four innings. That’s not a good way to establish long-term success, particularly on a night when the Cubs offense got held in check.

Next up

The Cubs wrap up the series agains the Brewers on Sunday at 1:10 PM CDT. It’ll be Jon Lester (10-4, 2.89 ERA) taking the mound for the Cubs as they try to pull out the rubber match and get the series win.