Willi Castro, Cubs look to take long series against Brewers
Chicago beat Milwaukee 6-4 and then 4-1 to sweep a day-night doubleheader on Tuesday but still sits seven games behind the MLB-leading Brewers in the NL Central.
Starring in both games for the Cubs was trade deadline acquisition Willi Castro, whom the club will need to produce at a higher clip in the homestretch. Castro hit a three-run shot in the first game on Tuesday -- his first home run since coming over from Minnesota last month -- and threw out Brice Turang at home from right field in the nightcap to thwart a late Milwaukee rally.
Castro is hitting just .150 (6-for-40) with the Cubs but had his best day for the club in a crucial two-game doubleheader.
"It's been a rough past two weeks, but we showed what we can do in the doubleheader," Castro said. "We have a great team, we have a great staff. ... It's been tough for me since I got here. I know I haven't produced as I know how. But it's OK. Whenever they give me an opportunity, I will get the job done."
After a 5-8 start to August, the Cubs have won four of their last five games and hold a two-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the top wild-card spot in the NL.
Hoping to continue the momentum in Game 4 of the series -- which Chicago leads 2-1 -- Colin Rea (9-5, 3.99 ERA) will make his 26th appearance (22nd start) on Wednesday for the Cubs, facing his former team for the second time this season.
Last time out, the veteran right-hander allowed one run on three hits across five innings in a no-decision on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs lost 3-2. Rea, who pitched in 59 games for the Brewers from 2021-24, is 0-1 with an 8.59 ERA in two career starts against them. He faced Milwaukee on July 29, allowing four runs in four innings in a 9-3 loss.
The Brewers have dropped three of four since winning 14 consecutive games, a single-season franchise record. Milwaukee also has lost back-to-back games for the first time since July 25-26.
The team's rookie phenom, Jacob Misiorowski (4-1, 3.89 ERA), is slated to make his ninth start of the season on Wednesday and second since coming off the 15-day injured list due to a left tibia contusion. The 23-year-old All Star suffered his worst outing thus far against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday, surrendering five runs on four hits in just 1 1/3 innings in a game the Brewers rallied to win 10-8.
"His delivery wasn't great, the mound wasn't to his liking," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of Misiorowski. "He was emotional, but that's part of him growing up and learning how to get by, even though he didn't feel right or wasn't in sync."
Misiorowski faced the Cubs for the only time on July 28, allowing three runs (two earned) over four innings in a no-decision. The Brewers won 8-4.
--Field Level Media
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Report: Bears signing backup QB Tyson Bagent to extension
August 20 - The Chicago Bears are signing backup quarterback Tyson Bagent to a two-year, $10 million contract extension with a maximum value of $16 million with incentives, his representatives told NFL Network on Wednesday. The deal runs through the 2027 season for the undrafted Bagent, who has spent his NFL career thus far serving as the backup to both Justin Fields and Caleb Williams in Chicago. Bagent, 25, played in five games (four starts) during his rookie season in 2023, completing 65.7 percent of his passes for 859 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions. He completed both pass attempts for a total of 11 yards while playing in four games off the bench last season. --Field Level Media
Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Donald welcomes happy headache as Ryder Cup crunch time looms
LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is happy to have a good headache as decision-day looms to finalise his team ahead of the clash with the United States in New York next month. One of the six automatic places is still up for grabs ahead of this weekend's British Masters at The Belfry but Ireland's Shane Lowry, who occupies sixth place in the rankings, is not playing, opening the door for Rasmus Hojgaard. Finishing in a two-way tie for 29th, or better, will mean Denmark's Hojgaard will join already-qualified Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton in Donald's team. Beyond the automatic places, Donald will have six captain's picks, and he will be keeping a keen eye on several candidates at the Belfry, the PGA Tour Championship, which is also this week, and at next week's European Masters in Switzerland. "Every Ryder Cup, there is always a push by some people who have a good opportunity to claim a place," Donald, whose team beat the United States in Rome two years ago, said. "It is a little bit of a headache for me, but a good headache. The more options we have for those picks the better." Donald announces his six picks on September 1 and faces a tough dilemma with the likes of Spain's Jon Rahm, England's Matt Fitzpatrick, Sweden's Ludvig Aberg and Austria's Sepp Straka, all requiring the nod from the captain. English trio Aaron Rai, Marco Penge and Harry Hall are also on Donald's radar. Penge, who won the Danish Open last week, and Rai will both be in action at the Belfry while Hall will seek to impress from afar at the Tour Championship. While Donald says the team bond that was evident at the Marco Simone Club two years ago was vital, he is not discounting shaking it up with some rookies. "Having some continuity is good but also having fresh blood, having rookies, that could be good, too. It's not cut and dry," Donald said. "But certainly from a continuity standpoint, they understand how I work. I understand them quite well. "Those are all positives for sure." The Ryder Cup takes place at Bethpage Black Course, Farmingdale, starting on September 26 with the United States aiming to reclaim the trophy after a 16 1/2 - 11 1/2 loss in Italy.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
New CEO tees up Tiger to redefine PGA Tour competition
August 20 - ATLANTA -- Brian Rolapp has a new job -- and now so does Tiger Woods. Rolapp, the PGA Tour's new CEO 18 days into his tenure, announced the formation of the Future Competition Committee on Wednesday in advance of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Woods agreed to serve as chairman for the nine-person committee. The aim of the newly formed group, which has yet to meet, is to define a competitive model for PGA Tour events. The committee will consist of five other players -- Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell -- and three business advisors with Joe Gorder, who serves on the Tour's policy board, and John Henry and Theo Epstein, both of the Fenway Sports Group. Rolapp comes to the PGA Tour as the CEO after a career with the NFL as commissioner Jay Monahan steps aside. "We're going to focus on the evolution of our competitive model and the corresponding media products and sponsorship elements and model of the entire sport, "Rolapp said. "The goal is not incremental change. The goal is significant change." The governing principles of the player-led committee are: Parity: to strengthen a commitment to a meritocratic structure. Scarcity: to increase fan engagement by ensuring top players compete together more often. Simplicity: to better connect the regular and postseason to magnify the season-ending Tour Championship. "The strength of the PGA Tour is strong, but there's much more we need to do, much more we need to change for the benefit of fans, players and our partners," Rolapp said. "I said when I took the job that I would take it with a clean sheet of paper, and that is still true. ... I said, we're going to honor tradition, but we will not be overly bound by it. Now we're going to start turning that blank sheet of paper into action with an idea to aggressively build on the foundation that we have." PGA Tour player Harris English is one of about 20 players Rolapp has spoken with since joining the organization. English said the two spoke for about 45 minutes. "I've been out here 14 years," English said. "I've seen a lot of changes out here, and (I gave him) kind of my thoughts on what's good, what's bad, what needs to be changed." One of the key issues facing Rolapp will be the relationship between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. The two entities continue separate paths with no prospect of a resolution anytime soon. Rolapp said he has not spoken with anyone from the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi-led group that finances LIV Golf. He was pressed about a possible resolution that would enable the world's best players to compete against each other, or at be in the same tournament fields more often. "I think I'm going to focus on what I can control," Rolapp said. "I would offer to you that the best collection of golfers in the world are on the PGA Tour. I think there's a bunch of metrics that demonstrate that, from rankings to viewership to whatever you want to pick. I'm going to lean into that and strengthen that. "I will also say that to the extent we can do anything that's going to further strengthen the PGA Tour, we'll do that, and I'm interested in exploring whatever strengthens the PGA Tour." --Chris Vivlamore, Field Level Media
