Brewer's Can't Score vs Cubs!

Brewers look to put runs on the board after Cubs pitchers dominated first two meetings

Cubs starter Jose Quintana has shut out the Brewers twice this season.

   When the Milwaukee Brewers open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night at Miller Park, their task will be simple: score some runs.

Scoring runs became an onerus task for the Brewers in the first two meetings with their National League Central rivals this season. In those eight games in April, four at home and four at Wrigley Field, Chicago’s pitchers combined for an amazing five shutouts.

It must be noted that hitting conditions were horrid in Chicago in late April, when frigid, windy weather made it all but impossible to drive the baseball. But, in shutting out the Brewers in three of those four games, the Cubs did scratch across nine runs while Milwaukee managed only two.

"That was a tough series for us but look how we've played this whole season," said right-hander Chase Anderson, who gets the start Tuesday for the Brewers. "Other than that, we've been really consistent in how we've played.

"We know it's a big series. Both teams are at the top of the division. We'd like to come out and set the tone. We're looking forward to it. These games are always dog fights."

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In going 1-7 against Chicago in those two series, the Brewers accumulated only 37 hits while scoring nine runs, five coming in their only victory April 6 at Miller Park. The Cubs put together 59 hits in those games and scored 29 runs, an average of only 3.6 per game in the pitching dominated competition.

In the four-game sweep at Wrigley, Chicago’s starting pitchers did not allow even one earned run, a historic accomplishment. In 27 innings, the Cubs’ rotation allowed a mere 11 hits and one unearned run, with six walks and 24 strikeouts. Overall, Chicago’s starters posted a 0.90 ERA in the eight games against Milwaukee.

“They’ve pitched very well against us this year,” manager Craig Counsell said. “The conditions in the series at Wrigley were not conducive to offense. That was an impossible series for offense. But they’ve pitched well against us.”

One of the starting pitchers who bedeviled the Brewers, off-season acquisition Yu Darvish (12 innings, five hits, one earned run), is on the disabled list and won’t appear in the upcoming series. But first up for the Cubs is left-hander Jose Quintana, who has dominated Milwaukee since being acquired from the White Sox in the middle of last season.

In two starts against the Brewers this season, Quintana is a perfect 2-0 and 0.00 with 13 scoreless innings and only five hits allowed. In six career outings against Milwaukee, he is 4-1 and 0.63, allowing only 22 hits in 43 innings.

“In the last two years, he has pitched very nice games against us,” Counsell said. “We’ve looked at it. We’ll examine some different ways. But, if you look at the games, he has made good pitches against us. Our roster hasn’t ch

anged significantly, so it’s the same matchups.

“In these intradivisional games, it’s execution because there are no secrets. You know what to expect. So, it’s execution on both sides. They’re all important games to me. This is a team that has been at the top of the mountain for three years and we’re trying to knock them off.”