German_Force » Milwaukee.Right-hander

CHICAGO (AP) — Christian Yelich’s easy smile and champagne-soaked T-shirt said it all.A division title is much more fun than a Triple Crown.Yelich collected three more hits as the Milwaukee Brewers won their first NL Central title since 2011 Clay Buchholz Jersey , beating the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Monday in a tiebreaker game. The silky-smooth slugger stalled in his bid for the league’s first Triple Crown in decades, but he starred once again as the Brew Crew captured the biggest prize of the day.“I know how hard it is to get to this point and I’m proud to be a part of this group,” Yelich said as Milwaukee’s boozy party swirled around him, filling every inch of the cramped visitors’ clubhouse at Wrigley Field.Lorenzo Cain hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning to help Milwaukee to its eighth straight win and home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. The Brewers will host the wild-card winner starting Thursday in the best-of-five Division Series.Chicago stays at Wrigley for Tuesday night’s wild-card game against Colorado. The Rockies lost 5-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Monday’s second tiebreaker for the NL West title.“It’s no fun. Of course we’d prefer the other route,” manager Joe Maddon said.It’s a quick turnaround after falling short in their bid for a third straight division title, but the Cubs will have ace left-hander Jon Lester on the mound for the elimination game.“We’ll be ready. This team has responded all year,” said Anthony Rizzo, who homered for Chicago’s run.Yelich singled home Milwaukee’s first run and won the NL batting title with a .326 average. He had 110 RBIs, one behind the Cubs’ Javier Baez, and finished with 36 home runs, two shy of Colorado’s Nolan Arenado. The tiebreakers were game 163 of the regular season and Arenado’s homer counted in the totals.Joe Medwick in 1937 was the last NL player to win the Triple Crown. Miguel Cabrera did it for Detroit in 2012.Milwaukee trailed Chicago by as many as five games in September Andrew Chafin Jersey , but manager Craig Counsell’s club pushed the season to an extra day with a furious finish and then used its deep lineup and bullpen to outlast the playoff-tested Cubs.“It just shows the heart and the mentality that this team has,” Cain said. “Never give up. Continue to fight each and every day in each and every at-bat. We’re going to continue to do that in the playoffs.”Orlando Arcia, batting in the eighth slot, had a career-high four hits, and Josh Hader closed out another dominant relief performance for the Brewers.“All the guys in the ‘pen, they’re attacking the zone and putting us in a good position to win ballgames,” Hader said.Jose Quintana pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning, but Chicago’s bullpen faltered at a key moment. Rizzo, Baez and Daniel Murphy accounted for the Cubs’ three hits.The game was tied at 1 before Milwaukee opened the eighth with three straight hits. Arcia singled on a 0-2 pitch from Justin Wilson (4-5), Domingo Santana had a pinch-hit double and Cain greeted Steve Cishek with a single back up the middle.After Yelich struck out swinging — a rare occurrence during an extraordinary stretch for the NL MVP favorite — Ryan Braun got the Brewers an insurance run with a run-scoring single to center.It was more than enough for Milwaukee’s vaunted bullpen. Corey Knebel (4-3) extended his scoreless streak to 16 1/3 innings with a perfect seventh, and Hader worked two innings for his 12th save.Rizzo had one last chance for Chicago Darryl Strawberry Jersey , but he flied to right with Baez on second for the final out . When it was over, Hader wrapped his arms around catcher Erik Kratz as the rest of the Brewers poured out of the dugout.A sizable portion of Milwaukee fans in the crowd of 38,450 chanted “Let’s go Brewers! Let’s go Brewers!” — a rarity at Wrigley over the past few years.“We could hear ’em, we could really hear them and we fed off of that,” Yelich said. “We wanted to bring this home for them.”Yelich also heard repeated “MVP!” chants when he singled in each of his first three at-bats. He drove in Arcia with his two-out hit in the third.Jhoulys Chacin sailed into the fifth inning with the lead, retiring 11 of his first 12 batters. But Rizzo led off with a massive drive to right for his 25th homer, tying it 1.The crowd roared as Rizzo rounded the bases and then popped out of the dugout for a curtain call.Chicago had a chance to grab the lead in the sixth, but Joakim Soria escaped the threat by striking out Baez with runners on first and second.“That was the big moment,” Counsell said.Chacin allowed one hit in 5 2/3 innings, setting up Milwaukee’s bullpen quite nicely. The right-hander struck out three and walked two in another solid effort in a career year.Quintana kept the Cubs in the game with another stingy performance against Milwaukee, allowing one run in five-plus innings. The left-hander is 4-1 with a 2.13 ERA in seven starts against the Brewers this year.UP NEXTThe Rockies and Cubs split six games this season http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-jacob-degrom-jersey , with each team scoring 33 runs. CHICAGO (AP) — Jon Lester offered no clues. When it comes to his mid-summer swoon, there’s only one thing for the veteran left-hander to do.“Figure it out. A little rut right now,” he said. “Keep grinding.”Lester was hit hard again and the San Diego Padres also battered Chicago’s bullpen on their way to a 10-6 victory over the Cubs on Sunday.Cory Spangenberg put San Diego ahead to stay with a tiebreaking double off Carl Edwards Jr. (3-2) with two outs in the eighth inning. Hunter Renfroe hit a two-run homer and Travis Jankowski added a two-run single in the Padres’ four-run ninth against Randy Rosario.Renfroe finished with three RBIs, helping the last-place Padres salvage a split of the four-game series after they blew a 5-1 lead in the finale.“It was one of our most team-oriented wins we’ve had all year where everybody did something positive for us,” manager Andy Green said.Spangenberg and Jankowski were inserted into the game as defensive replacements in the seventh inning. Craig Stammen (5-1) got the win despite allowing pinch-hitter Anthony Rizzo’s tying single.Lester was tagged for five runs and eight hits in five innings. The All-Star left-hander was 10-2 with a 2.18 ERA after beating the Dodgers on June 26, but has a 6.81 ERA in seven starts since that win in Los Angeles.“I can’t tell you from the view behind the plate or from center field, but stuff kept getting better in the game,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “That’s what I saw.”One of the biggest problems for Lester has been the long ball, and it hurt him again on Sunday. Freddy Galvis golfed a leadoff drive just over the wall in left in the second, and Franmil Reyes opened the fourth with a massive shot to center that traveled an estimated 477 feet for baseball’s fifth-longest homer this season, according to Statcast.The 34-year-old Lester has allowed at least one homer in each of his last seven starts. Getting him back on track could be the biggest key for Chicago as it tries to hold off Milwaukee in the NL Central.“Just got to be better Nolan Ryan Jersey ,” Lester said.Asked about his health at this point in the season compared to past years, Lester said: “Every year is different. I’m here. I’ll take the ball in five days.”San Diego also got a two-run triple from Eric Hosmer with two outs in the second. Joey Lucchesi struck out nine in 5 2/3 innings after his start was pushed back a day due to a bout with food poisoning.“The main thing we can’t lose focus on is understanding how hard the process is,” Hosmer said. “We’re going to learn from failure. As long as we’re gaining ground and moving forward, we’ll be all right. And we definitely did that in this series.”Javier Baez hit his career-best 24th homer and an RBI double for Chicago, which won five of seven in the season series against San Diego. Ben Zobrist added two hits after beginning the game on the bench, including his eighth homer.Rizzo came up again with a runner on first in the ninth and struck out looking on a pitch that appeared to be outside , ending the game. Rizzo then had a long conversation with plate umpire Angel Hernandez before leaving the field.“I feel like I have a great working relationship with pretty much the whole league,” Rizzo said. “But with that being said, that call was unacceptable. Angel told me to look at it, I looked at it, and he was wrong. … Things like that can’t happen http://www.metsfanproshop.com/authentic-tom-seaver-jersey , and it happened all game.”COMING AND GOINGSan Diego lost right-handers Tyson Ross and Jordan Lyles on waiver claims. Ross was picked up by St. Louis, and Lyles was claimed by Milwaukee.Right-hander Trey Wingenter was promoted from Triple-A El Paso. Green said right-hander Brett Kennedy will come up from the minors to start Wednesday against the Brewers in his major league debut.The 24-year-old Kennedy is 10-0 with a 2.72 ERA in 16 starts for El Paso.TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: Maddon said RHP Yu Darvish (triceps and elbow injuries) felt good after throwing 55 pitches in a bullpen session Saturday. “We’re in the process of talking about what we’re going to do with him in Kansas City,” Maddon said.UP NEXTPadres: Following an off day, LHP Clayton Richard (7-10, 4.99 ERA) faces Brewers RHP Chase Anderson (7-7, 3.65 ERA) in the opener of a three-game set at Milwaukee. Richard is 0-4 with a 7.05 ERA in his last seven starts.Cubs: LHP Cole Hamels (6-9, 4.53 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series at Kansas City on Monday night. It will be Hamels’ second start since he was acquired in a July 27 trade with Texas. RHP Jakob Junis (6-11, 5.12 ERA) pitches for the Royals.