Column: Milwaukee Brewers are suddenly a touchy topic for Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell
He'd been asked about the Milwaukee Brewers' 13-game winning streak, their jovial manager, Pat Murphy, and the divisional race the Brewers are now running away with after the Cubs spent the first four months in first place. The way things were headed, Counsell might have feared answering questions about the Mars Cheese Castle, the Green Bay Packers receiving corps and his favorite lunch spot at the Wisconsin Dells.
'What did you expect?' I asked him.
The Wisconsin native who left his job in Milwaukee for the bright lights of Chicago has watched his former team turn into baseball's best story, while the Cubs were doing Cub-like things, falling nine games back by mid-August after a sensational start.
Asked if he could appreciate how 'great' a story the Brewers have been, Counsell deadpanned:
'What's so great about it? I mean, they're playing good. They're playing great. They haven't lost since we played them.'
So is he annoyed by the fact the Brewers never lose?
'Well, the job is to try to win the division,' he replied. 'That's the ultimate goal, and they're really making that difficult. So from that perspective, yeah. We only get 13 chances to affect it though, right?'
The Cubs, who went 4-4 against the Brewers in their first eight meetings, begin a five-game series against them Monday at Wrigley Field.
It could be a wake if the Cubs don't wake up. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 on Saturday, while the Brewers won in dramatic fashion again, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 in 11 innings for their franchise-record 14th consecutive victory.
Counsell didn't want to bury himself, as many Cubs managers before him have done, by saying something that would be used against him on sports-talk radio, the internet or the Brewers' virtual bulletin board.
You couldn't blame him for dodging questions, just as you couldn't blame the media for asking.
Counsell was a teenager in Milwaukee when the '87 Brewers won their first 13 games, setting a franchise record that was tied Friday in a crazy 10-8 comeback win over the Reds after trailing 8-1.
The owner of the George Webb restaurant chain had promised to give away free burgers for one day after 12 straight Brewers wins, and eventually wound up handing out 168,192 freebies after the streak was reached in April 1987. Thanks to this year's streak, which reached 12 on Wednesday, the George Webb chain will do likewise from 2-6 p.m. Wednesday at all of the restaurant's 23 Wisconsin locations.
Counsell didn't recall getting a free burger in '87 when I asked him about his childhood memories. In truth he said he was more a fan of the burgers from Kopp's Frozen Custard, another Wisconsin staple.
'Honestly, I've never seen a George Webb,' Counsell said, referring to the restaurant, not the person.
I hadn't seen a George Webb either until 1987, when the Chicago Tribune sent me to Milwaukee to report on a story a month after the 13-game winning streak. Rev. Dominic Peluse, a New York Yankees fan and priest at an elementary school in Franklin, Wis., had promised his 200 students free burgers if the Brewers lost 12 straight.
With the streak at 11 straight, Rev. Peluse said before the May 20th game against the White Sox he was in a 'state of frenzy,' realizing how much 200 burgers would cost him. The Sox won 5-1, and the priest was forced to pay off.
Brewers owner Bud Selig, who would later become MLB commissioner, was perplexed at how a team could win 13 straight in April and then lose 12 straight in May.
'There are 26 weeks in the major-league season,' Selig told me that day at County Stadium. 'There are times in those 26 weeks when you think you're never going to lose, and times when you think you're never going to win. I never thought I'd see both of those so soon. This is not a human experience that I like going through.'
Counsell probably can relate. This is not a human experience he likes going through either. Watching the 2025 Brewers look unstoppable while his Cubs struggle to score runs has been harder to digest than moldy cheese curds.
Everything the Brewers touch seems to turns to gold, as evidenced by the play of former Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who was acquired for pitcher Aaron Civale on June 13 after Vaughn had been demoted to Triple-A Charlotte three weeks earlier.
Entering Saturday, the Brewers were 27-4 (an .871 win percentage) since Vaughn's debut July 7 at Dodger Stadium, where he hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat in a 9-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Vaughn was demoted to Charlotte on May 24, the White Sox were 15-35, a .300 win percentage, and the first baseman was hitting .189 with five home runs, 19 RBIs and a .531 OPS in 48 games.
'I had to understand what was going on and look at myself,' Vaughn told two Chicago reporters last month in Milwaukee. 'I had to take the ego out of it. Baseball is our job, and if you're not producing, sometimes that happens.'
Sox general manager Chris Getz rationalized the deal by pointing to Vaughn becoming a free agent after 2026, saying 'where Vaughn is in his White Sox career contractually, it did make some sense to look at ways to help our team currently in finding an arm.'
Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf appreciated the financial savings, no doubt, while Brewers GM Matt Arnold gambled on Vaughn and won big.
Entering Saturday's game in Cincinnati, Vaughn was hitting .343 with nine home runs, 35 RBIs and a 1.051 OPS in 29 games. His 54 total RBIs are five more than Lenyn Sosa's 49, which lead the Sox.
'You never know what a change of scenery can do for you,' Brewers slugger Christian Yelich said of Vaughn's surge. 'He's been a really productive player in this league, and sometimes you get off to rough starts in a season. I've had a few of those in my career too.
'If you consistently stay at it, eventually it starts to turn. And it could be that change of scenery, getting into a different environment, a different culture … you never really know. He's done a great job, he's a great guy and he fits our group well.'
Meanwhile, the Cubs will enter the showdown against the Brewers as decided underdogs. They need to finish first in the NL wild-card standings to play at home in a best-of-three wild-card series and are neck-and-neck with the San Diego Padres in the race for the No. 4 seed.
'That's the next goal, right?' Counsell said. 'The wild-card series is a three-game series for seeds 3-6. You get the advantage of being at home if you're the top seed. Otherwise you're on the road. But a three-game series is a three-game series. We know what can happen in a three-game series. You want it to be at home, but I'm not sure it matters in the playoffs. It matters, but it's small. That's what history tells us, at least.'
History also tells us a team can win 13 games in a row and lose 12 straight one month later.
You could look it up.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
8 minutes ago
- NBC News
Scottie Scheffler rallies to win BMW Championship for 5th victory of the year
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The numbers Scottie Scheffler is compiling have been drawing comparisons with Tiger Woods. The world's No. 1 player had a Tiger-like moment with the trophy on the line and a club in his hand Sunday in the BMW Championship. His 82-foot chip on the 17th — the hardest hole in the final round at Caves Valley — landed about 60 feet short and rolled the rest of the way, picking up speed, losing speed dropping on the final turn. The birdie all but wrapped up another win, his fifth PGA Tour title this year. It was reminiscent of Woods delivering magic to overshadow his sublime skill, his chip-in from behind the 16th green at the Memorial, his chip-in for eagle in the World Cup in Japan. Scheffler already had erased a four-shot deficit against hard-luck Robert MacIntyre in five holes. He was clinging to a one-shot lead on the 17th, a daunting par 3 with a back right pin and water right. Scheffler was in the left rough, the safe spot, facing a shot that a dozen players had chipped over the green. 'I knew it was just going to be really fast, and do my best to get it down there and give myself a good look for par,' he said. 'When it came out, it came out how we wanted to and then it started breaking and it started looking better and better. 'And yeah, it was definitely nice to see that one go in.' Scheffler closed with a 3-under 67 for a two-shot victory and became the first player since Woods — there's that name again — in 2006 and 2007 to win at least five times on the PGA Tour in consecutive years. MacIntyre didn't make a birdie until the 16th hole but stayed in the game after losing his big lead, mostly when Scheffler began missing short putts. MacIntyre pulled within one shot of the lead going to the 17th when Scheffler worked his magic and had to settle for another runner-up finish to a memorable shot, just like he did at Oakmont when J.J. Spaun holed a 65-foot birdie putt to clinch the U.S. Open. MacIntyre was in the scoring room when he watched Spaun and applauded it. He was alongside Scheffler at the BMW Championship, staring in disbelief but angry at his poor play off the tee that cost him the big lead early. 'When he's pitched that in on 17 and then he's hit the perfect tee shot on 18, it's pretty much game over just then. You're playing for second place at that point,' MacIntyre said. 'He's the better player on the day. I'm just really pissed off right now,' he said. 'Right now I want go and smash up my golf clubs, to be honest with you.' MacIntyre made 18 birdies in the first 45 holes of the tournament and only two over the last 27 holes. He closed with a 73 and got some consolation prizes that didn't mean much in the moment. He cracked the top 10 in the world for the first time, going to No. 8. Scheffler's chip-in elicited the loudest cheer of the day. The most satisfying shot came on the 15th, when his lead was down to one shot after a three-putt. MacIntyre from the fairway hit into 7 feet. Scheffler was in a deep bunker and hit 8-iron to 6 feet. MacIntyre missed. Scheffler made. 'That was a really important shot in the tournament, one that I think will fly a little bit under the radar,' he said. The season is not over for Scheffler, who leads the 30 players who advanced to the Tour Championship at East Lake with a chance to become the first repeat FedEx Cup champion since the series began in 2007. All 30 players at East Lake can win the $10 million first-place check. The field includes Harry Hall, the only player who played his way into the top 30 on Sunday, and even that was tense. Hall made bogey on the par-5 16th — the easiest hole on the course — and then went long and left at the 17th. He also chipped in for birdie and was safe going up the 18th. Rickie Fowler was on the verge of getting back to East Lake only to twice miss the green from the fairway on the back nine, leading to bogey on the 14th and double bogey on the 15th, and knocked him out of the top 30. Fowler finished with a 5-foot par putt — had he missed, Michael Kim would have been in the Tour Championship. Instead, the 30th spot went to Akshay Bhatia, despite making four bogeys on the back nine and feeling as though he had blown it. MacIntyre squandered a big chance, too. He showed plenty of grit on Saturday playing in the final group with Scheffler. But on the opening hole, Scheffler drilled his drive down the middle and hit to 6 feet for birdie, while MacIntyre missed the fairway and a 6-foot par putt. It was an early statement. MacIntyre missed another fairway at the second and made bogey. He went from the fairway to a bunker on the short par-4 fifth, a two-shot swing when the Scotsman failed to get up-and-down for par and Scheffler made birdie. And then Scheffler took the lead with a wedge to 6 feet for birdie on No. 7. It looked like it would be a runaway at that point as Scheffler never seemed to miss — except when he had a chance to extend the lead. He missed birdie chances of 5 feet at No. 8 and 8 feet at No. 10. He botched a simple up-and-down at the 12th and three-putted from 18 feet on the 14th. Each chance kept MacIntyre in the hunt. And then came one chip on the 17th, a knockout punch.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Where's Kyle Tucker? Right now, the Cubs need more impact from frustrated slugger
CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker is supposed to make the game look easy. It never is that simple, but he came to the Cubs with a well-earned reputation for being a low-key, maintenance star. When a smooth hitter with an even-keeled personality starts chucking his helmet and slamming his bat, you know the frustration is real. Advertisement The clock is ticking on Tucker's time in Chicago, where the size of his next contract is no longer a constant topic of speculation. The Cubs stomached the cost to acquire Tucker in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Astros last offseason, knowing that he would become a free agent and sign with the highest bidder. Unfazed by the adjustment period and a different kind of pressure, Tucker earned his fourth All-Star selection with a great first half that helped put the Cubs at the top of the National League Central. That now feels like a distant memory. While the Milwaukee Brewers took over the division with a 14-game winning streak that ended Sunday, Chicago's offense fell into the same kind of deep spiral that dragged the past two seasons down and out of the playoffs. This was a moment that screamed for the presence of a World Series champion with natural confidence and loose energy. Instead, Tucker's outward reactions after empty at-bats are symptomatic of a Cubs team that, at times, has looked tight or even lost. 'It just kind of happens,' Tucker said. 'Normally, I don't really show much emotion out there or anything. I just try to do my job. But it's been tough over the last two months or so. Just got to keep going.' The crowds were restless this weekend at Wrigley Field, where fans booed Tucker during Sunday's 4-3 comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. That moment happened while the Cubs were down by one run in the sixth inning, when Tucker hit a groundball up the first-base line and did not move far from the batter's box. Kyle Tucker was just boo'd after he grounded out to first and didn't run to first base. — Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) August 17, 2025 It really shouldn't be this difficult to beat a last-place team, especially after the trade deadline and without facing Paul Skenes. And it really doesn't matter how manager Craig Counsell organizes the lineup if the club's best hitters don't perform. The Cubs don't have a more accomplished hitter than Tucker, whose left-handed power and all-around skills are projected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Advertisement Tucker, though, guessed that he hasn't struggled to this extent since his major-league debut in 2018. 'I don't know how long it's been since I hit a homer,' he said. That would be July 19, the second game after the All-Star break. 'You miss pitches that you hit generally, and it makes you ask: 'Why am I missing those pitches?'' Counsell said. 'That's it. Because the plate discipline has been really strong still. But when you miss those pitches that you normally hit hard, hit far, you ask yourself: 'Why?' And I think that's what he's going through.' Counsell downplayed Tucker's recent moments of frustration. You don't see it that often, Counsell said, because Tucker usually crushes those pitches. 'That's why I think it's very normal,' he said. 'I don't think it's something out of character. I think he's having a reaction to stuff.' Just like any other player. Except the Cubs expected a superstar-level performance for one season when they gave up 14 potential years of club control over Cam Smith, Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski in a deal that did not neatly line up with the club's value-obsessed modeling system. For a front office under pressure to keep jobs and make the playoffs, it was a move to win now. Since the start of July, Tucker has hit just one home run while his season OPS has dropped 104 points. In August thus far, Tucker has not produced an extra-base hit while his groundball rate this month has risen toward 50 percent. It was noticeable when Tucker, who normally prefers to prepare in the batting cage with a shorter routine, took batting practice on the field last week before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. 'I haven't really driven the ball great in the air,' Tucker said. 'I was just trying to get that feeling back, and trying to do it out on the field, where you have a visual of what it's going to be like in the game. You try to replicate that once the game starts. I had a few good swings out in Toronto that just didn't end up as a hit, but that's how baseball goes sometimes. You just try to battle through it.' Advertisement Counsell hinted at some small adjustments to Tucker's mechanics and approach. A league source observed that Tucker's bat speed is slightly slower, creating a perception that he just doesn't look quite as comfortable in the batter's box or as ready to turn on inside pitches. Tucker injured his right ring finger on a headfirst slide at the start of June, but that wound up being his best month (.982 OPS) to this point. 'We've played 120-ish games or whatever, so I'm sure everyone around the league is kind of banged up,' Tucker said. 'It's just kind of part of the job. It's what we get paid to come out here and do. You're trying to win games, whether you're banged up or not. It doesn't really matter. It's part of the game. You just got to keep going.' The long track record shows that Tucker is one of the best hitters in the game and probably due for some better luck and a bounce back soon. Even with this downturn, Tucker was so good on the front end of the season that his overall production has been worth 4.4 bWAR this season, with an OPS+ that's still roughly 40 percent higher than average. 'There's a lot of trust in who the man is, and who the player is, that he's going to get it done,' Counsell said. As the Brewers have demonstrated in so many ways, it's never a one-man show or not always about the biggest names. But Tucker's impact was obvious as the Cubs spent most of April, May, June and July in first place. Now they get five games against the Brewers in four days, starting with Monday's doubleheader at Wrigley Field, a chance to chip away at an eight-game division deficit and improve their wild-card chances. 'We still have a really good team,' Tucker said. 'Regardless of how the last couple weeks or whatever have gone, we're still in the playoff hunt right now, and in a playoff (spot) currently, so we don't change our course just because we lose a few games here or there. Our goal is to grind out the season and get to the playoffs and try to win from there.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
3 takeaways from the weekend as the Chicago Cubs prepare for a 5-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers
The National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers are coming to town for a five-game set against the Chicago Cubs, starting with a doubleheader on Monday at Wrigley Field. Here's the math. A Cubs sweep puts them three games out of first place. A Brewers sweep means the Cubs would be 13 games back with 34 games left in the season. Logic would say that the results would fall in the middle and the Cubs would be somewhere between 5-10 games back. But this season, logic is not a part of the equation. Whatever happens, the Cubs know they will be in a battle against a team that won 14 of its last 15 games and had a 14-game win streak snapped in Cincinnati on Sunday. 'This series has a lot of attention and there will be a great atmosphere,' left fielder Ian Happ said after the Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Sunday at Wrigley Field to prevent a fourth straight series loss. 'They play fundamental baseball. They run the bases well, they play defense well. They pitch and hit. We just have to go out and play our game.' Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who managed the Brewers from 2015-23, is looking forward to doing battle with his old team. 'We're excited for the series,' he said. 'We're getting to the point where the number of games left means that the games are important and the wins are helpful.' Dansby Swanson, who was honored Sunday with a bobblehead of him and his wife, Chicago Stars standout Mallory Swanson, hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to bring home Carson Kelly with what turned out to be the winning run for the Cubs in front of a crowd of 38,012. Happ and Pete Crow-Armstrong each had two hits for the Cubs (70-53). Starter Javier Assad, pitching in just his second game this season after suffering an oblique injury, gave up one run on five hits in four innings. While the Cubs salvaged the Pirates series, the offense is still scuffling, scoring nine runs in three games against a last-place team one series removed from getting blown out 33-6 by the Brewers. Here are three takeaways before the big series. Some fans are thirsting for sweeping changes in a Cubs lineup that is not producing the runs and showing the power it had before the All-Star break. Counsell was partially amused and partially piqued before Sunday's game when asked by members of the media about the lineup. 'What do you guys — what do you want to do?' Counsell said. 'Why don't you tell me what you want to happen and then I'll respond to that.' Someone suggested third baseman Matt Shaw, whose 1.086 OPS since the All-Star break ranked third in the National League, should be moved from ninth to higher up in the order. 'Looking at (leadoff hitter) Michael Busch, he's a really good hitter,' Counsell said. 'He's a very productive hitter. And we want that guy to hit a lot. Yeah. 'Matt's had a nice two-week stretch where he's been productive and we tried to put him in good matchups. And we try to develop him as well.' Another suggestion was giving slumping Happ some time off in favor of rookie Owen Caissie, who was tearing it up at Triple-A Iowa. 'Ian's a really good baseball player,' Counsell said. 'Ian's had some bad luck this year, if you want to check that. And he's swung the bat pretty, pretty darn well. This is where baseball gets tough. There is not much difference between Ian's season last year and in 2023 and this year. Do you make a decision based off of that?' Caissie was called up Thursday and went 0-for-4 in one game against the Toronto Blue Jays, then sat out the first two games against Pittsburgh. He was a pinch hitter on Sunday and popped out to third. Happ, who entered the game 4-for-26 in his previous eight games, got back on track. Counsell said that Caissie will play in one of the doubleheader games against the Brewers on Monday. There was a time this season when right fielder Kyle Tucker would single or hit a home run and fans on social media would say, 'Pay the man whatever he wants!' Tucker, who came to the Cubs in an offseason trade with Houston with one year left on his contract, was speculated by some to command a $500 million price tag on his next contract. Now that he is in a slump — he hasn't homered since July 19 and hits have been hard to come by — fans are getting testy with him. On Sunday, when he didn't run out of the batter's box on a grounder to first in the sixth inning, he was loudly booed. Since the Cubs have not been in the postseason since 2020, let's have a refresher course on the playoffs. The American League and National League each get six representatives — three division champs and three wild cards. The top seed is the team with the league's best record, the second seed is the second-best division winner and the third seed is the third-best division winner. The top two seeds will get first-round byes. It's looking like the Cubs won't have to worry about that. As of Sunday, the Cubs own the top NL wild-card mark and would be the fourth seed and host the fifth seed, another wild-card team, in a best-of-three series at Wrigley Field. Playing at home and having starters Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd doesn't sound like a bad deal right now.
