MILWAUKEE — Andrew Vaughn and Jackson Chourio each hit a three-run homer, William Contreras added a solo shot and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 7-3 Monday night to move one victory away from a trip to the National League Championship Series.
The Brewers have a 2-0 advantage in the top-ranked division series, which moves to Wrigley Field in Chicago for Game 3 on Wednesday. Teams taking a 2-0 lead in a five-game playoff series have won 80 of 90 times, including 54 sweeps.
Milwaukee is trying to win a postseason series for the first time since 2018, when it reached Game 7 of the NLC.
Vaughn and Chourio hit the first two three-run homers in Brewers playoff history. Contreras’ solo shot in the third broke a 3-all tie.
Chicago pair Seiya Suzuki hit his own three-run homer – a 440-foot shot to left center in the first inning against Aaron Ashby. After coming out of the bullpen in 42 of his 43 regular season appearances, Ashby was open in this one.
But the Cubs didn’t score again. Nick Mears, Jacob Miriorowski, Chad Patrick, Jared Koenig, Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe combined for 7 1/3 innings of shutout relief in which they allowed just one hit.
“We didn’t put enough pressure on them,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “The first two innings we did a good job. But we had two at-bats with runners in scoring position today. That’s a sign we’re not putting enough pressure on. And that’s going to add a lot of zeroes.”
Miriorowski came on in the third and pitched three scoreless innings to earn the victory while hitting at least 100 mph on 31 of his 57 pitches. Each of the rookie’s first eight throws went at least 102.6 mph, and he topped out at 104.3.
While Miriorowski sizzled, Chicago’s Shota Imanaga was fizzy.
Twice in the first three innings, Imanaga retired the first two batters before running into trouble that resulted in a home run. Imanaga has allowed multiple home runs in six of his last eight appearances.
Vaughn tied the game in the bottom of the first with a drive over the left field wall after Contreras and Christian Yelich delivered two singles. According to MLB, this was the first playoff game in which each team hit a three-run home run in the first inning.
Contreras then hit a 411-foot shot to left with two outs in the third.
Vaughn’s first inning marked the first time the Brewers hit a three-run homer or grand slam in the postseason. They got their second just three innings later, when Chourio connected on his 419-foot shot from Daniel Palencia.
Chourio was back in the leadoff spot after tightness in his right hamstring caused him to leave in the second inning of Milwaukee’s 9-3 Game 1 win Saturday. Chourio went 3 for 3 with three RBIs in Game 1 before his exit, making him the first player to have three hits in the first two innings of a postseason game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
