Cubs head back home on the brink of elimination after losing 2 straight in Milwaukee

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Chicago Cubs’ hitters aren’t putting enough balls in play, and their pitchers aren’t keeping balls in play.

That combination has the Cubs heading back home on the brink of elimination.

Chicago gave up three homers and mustered just one hit after the second inning of a 7-3 loss at Milwaukee on Monday night that gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five NL Division Series.

The Cubs must win two straight in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday to send the series back to Milwaukee for a deciding Game 5 on Saturday. Teams falling behind 2-0 in a best-of-five postseason series have won just 10 of 90 times.

“It’s simple,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve got to just win pitches. We’ve got to win moments. You’ve got to stay with your process and your routines. It’s simple as that. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but it’s done by winning one pitch at a time and succeeding one pitch at a time.”

They haven’t won nearly enough pitches thus far.

The Cubs have struck out 23 times in this series — 12 in a 9-3 loss in Game 1 on Saturday and 11 more on Monday. Meanwhile, Chicago allowed nine runs in the first three innings Saturday and gave up seven runs in the first four frames Monday.

“It’s not a surprise that they’re going out there and throwing their best arms and all their guys seem to be locked in,” said Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Monday. “It’s our job to execute. I know I haven’t done that. It’s a pretty simple idea here. If you put more balls in play, you’ll probably score more.”

Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer off Aaron Ashby to put the Cubs ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning Monday, but Shota Imanaga allowed a three-run homer to Andrew Vaughn in the bottom half. Chicago never led again.

Imanaga also allowed a solo shot to William Contreras in the third, marking the sixth time in his last eight appearances that he’s given up multiple homers.

“I ruined the game, so there’s a lot of frustration within myself,” Imanaga said through an interpreter.

Daniel Palencia took over for Imanaga and gave up a three-run homer to Jackson Chourio in the fourth. Milwaukee ranked just 22nd in the majors in homers during the regular season.

Chicago hasn’t gotten much from either of its starting pitchers so far. Although he didn’t give up any homers, Matthew Boyd yielded six runs — two earned — and got just two outs in Game 1. The Brewers scored all nine of their runs in the first two innings that day.

The Cubs will turn to Jameson Taillon (11-7, 3.68 ERA) in Game 3, while the Brewers plan to start Quinn Priester (13-3, 3.32).

Suzuki’s homer suggested the Cubs would take charge early in Game 2, but their lineup got silenced the rest of the way.

Chicago had runners at first and second in a tie game in the second inning when Nick Mears retired Nico Hoerner on a fly to right. The Cubs didn't get another runner beyond first base the rest of the night.

“We had two at-bats with runners in scoring position,” Counsell said. “That’s a pretty good sign that we’re not creating enough pressure.”

The Cubs believe they can still turn it around.

They won seven of 13 regular-season meetings with Milwaukee. They already staved off elimination at Wrigley Field just last week when they won a decisive Game 3 in a Wild Card Series matchup with the San Diego Padres.

Now they just need to deliver at home again.

“We’re in the same spot we’ve been in when we’ve had our backs against the wall,” Crow-Armstrong said. “We’re always looking forward to playing more baseball at Wrigley. That’s why you’ve got to win three (games). So we’re definitely looking forward to going home, playing in front of our home crowd, working to win two and bring it back here."

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