Brewers hand the Cubs a third-straight loss, get back to .500 on the season

The Milwaukee Brewers have won three straight games for the first time this season.

Manager Craig Counsell’s club got back to .500 on the year with a 6-5 win over Chicago Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. It allowed the Brewers to take 3 of 4 from a Cubs team that came into the weekend with the best record in baseball.

Milwaukee got the win thanks to some timely hitting and its bullpen. As they did on Saturday, the Brewers fell behind 3-0 early, but they had an answer in the third. That’s when Keston Hiura took Jon Lester deep for a three-run homer. It was the second baseman’s fifth home run of the year. Milwaukee would take the lead in the fifth when shortstop Orlando Arcia drilled a two-run shot off of Lester.

The Cubs tied it back up in the sixth inning but the Brewers jumped right back in front in the seventh as Ryan Braun brought Arcia in on an RBI single. It was Braun’s lone hit of the day as he batted in the leadoff spot for the first time this year.

Brewers relievers Devin Williams, David Phelps and Josh Hader slammed the door on Chicago, not allowing a hit over the final three innings while striking out six. Hader picked up his second save of the weekend and his fifth of the year.

Josh Lindblom got the start for Milwaukee and made it five innings. He was credited with giving up all five runs on just three hits. He walked four but also struck out eight on the afternoon.

Outside of Hiura, Arcia and Luis Urias were the stars offensively for Milwaukee. The duo combined to go 6-for-8 with two RBI and a pair of triples.

The Brewers road trip continues Tuesday as they head to Minnesota to take on the Twins. The two teams played last week in Milwaukee with the Twins taking 2 of 3 and scoring 20 runs.