Led by a lights-out performance by Kyle Harrison and an offense powered by the wheels of David Hamilton, the Milwaukee Brewers shut out the Chicago Cubs, 5-0, to complete a dominant three-game sweep of their Central Division rivals at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night, May 20.
Harrison struck out 11 over seven innings and retired 15 consecutive batters at one point as he improved to 5-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.77 while the Brewers (29-18) further strengthened the hold on first place in the division they grabbed from the Cubs on Tuesday.
BOX SCORE: Brewers 5, Cubs 0
Hamilton, meanwhile, raced all the way around the bases with two runners on after a second-inning error in center field by Pete Crow-Armstrong and provided additional insurance in the seventh with a run-scoring triple as Milwaukee made the most of its six hits on the evening.
The sweep was just the fifth by the Brewers at Wrigley Field and first since 2021 as they outscored the Cubs, 19-5, over the three games.
Milwaukee has now won 11 of its last 13 games and 16 of 21. The sweep was the team’s third of the season and second in the last four series, with the first coming against the New York Yankees.
“I think it gives us a little confidence,” said manager Pat Murphy. “But, you know, Friday will be here soon enough. We have the Dodgers in town. But I’m happy for the guys.
“I’ve said it all year. I trust these guys. They have high expectations of themselves and we have high standards, so hopefully a (series) like this gives them some confidence.”
Kyle Harrison puts it on cruise control
Nico Hoerner hit a leadoff double, Seiya Suzuki drew a walk to start the second and after that it was absolutely nothing for the Cubs against Harrison.
Beginning with a strikeout of Carson Kelly following the Suzuki walk, Harrison proceeded to retire the next 15 batters, totally mystifying Chicago’s lineup with essentially a two-pitch mix featuring his four-seam fastball that topped out at 97.6 mph and a slurve.
Milwaukee’s offense tacked on another run of insurance in the seventh when Hamilton lofted a high fly ball down the right-field line that dropped for a triple just in front of the wall, with Hamilton scoring shortly thereafter on a wild pitch by Phil Maton.
Alex Bregman’s leadoff single in the seventh gave Chicago its first baserunner since the second but he went nowhere as Harrison sat down the next three batters to make it 18 of the final 19 while closing the book on his outing at 94 pitches.
He allowed just two hits and a walk and struck out 11 for his second double-digit outing of the season in that category and fourth of his career.
DL Hall pitched the final two innings to seal the third shutout of the season for the Brewers.
“We did a good job pitching and a great job swinging the bats,” Harrison said. “Definitely an encouraging series, but we’ve got a lot of time to go.”
Milwaukee tacks on in the third
William Contreras drew a leadoff walk, stole second on a Christian Yelich strikeout and advanced to third when Kelly threw the ball into center field.
Two batters later, Jake Bauers ripped a single to right to up Milwaukee’s lead to 4-0, his on-base streak to 21 games and hitting streak to a career-high 11.
After Harrison retired the Cubs in order in the bottom of the frame, Cabrera needed to be removed one pitch into the fourth with a right middle finger blister.
Brewers making their own breaks early
After Hoerner doubled to lead off the bottom of the first he attempted to tag and go from second to third on a flyout to center by Bregman.
Garrett Mitchell made a pinpoint, 90.5-mph throw to third with Hoerner being ruled safe initially but later out after the Brewers challenged. Harrison then struck out Ian Happ to finish the inning.
Then with one out in the second, the Brewers successfully challenged Sal Frelick nicking Kelly’s glove on a swing. He stole second and Joey Ortiz walked to bring Hamilton to the plate.
He lined a single to center that Crow-Armstrong completely overran, with the ball having been hit hard enough that it rolled all the way to the warning track in center.
Frelick and Ortiz scored easily, and Hamilton came all the way around to score as well to give himself a “Little League” homer and the Brewers a 3-0 lead.
Brewers 2026 record
29-18.
Brewers lineup
- Jackson Chourio LF
- Brice Turang 2B
- William Contreras C
- Christian Yelich DH
- Garrett Mitchell CF
- Jake Bauers 1B
- Sal Frelick RF
- Joey Ortiz SS
- David Hamilton 3B
Cubs lineup
- Nico Hoerner 2B
- Alex Bregman 3B
- Ian Happ LF
- Seiya Suzuki RF
- Carson Kelly C
- Michael Busch 1B
- Miguel Amaya DH
- Dansby Swanson SS
- Pete Crow-Armstrong CF
Brewers probable pitchers, schedule
Off day, May 21
Brewers vs Dodgers, May 22 6:40 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Logan Henderson (1-1, 3.50) vs. Los Angeles LHP Justin Wrobleski (6-1, 2.49). TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs Dodgers, May 23 6:15 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Robert Gasser (0-0, 4.50) vs. Los Angeles RHP Roki Sasaki (2-3, 5.09). TV – FOX. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs Dodgers, May 24 1:10 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Brandon Sproat (1-2, 5.75) vs. Los Angeles RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-4, 3.32). TV – Brewers TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers 5, Cubs 0: Total domination in a three-game sweep
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
