Brewers 3, Cubs 1: Milwaukee rallies late to win first matchup against Craig Counsell

CHICAGO – No matter who is standing on the top step of either dugout, these are just the types of games the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs play.

No margin for error.

Craig Counsell’s first game in the rivalry from the other side of the field followed suit, but this time it was his bullpen that caved to the Brewers.

After seven dormant innings, Milwaukee’s offense awoke in the eighth inning, scoring three runs in a 3-1 win over the Cubs on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 3, Cubs 1

William Contreras, Willy Adames and Jake Bauers all singled to drive in a run off Cubs reliever Adbert Alzolay, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead despite struggling against Cubs starter Hayden Wesneski for most of the afternoon.

The Brewers ran wild in the inning, stealing four bases to tie a franchise record for most steals in an inning.

Joe Ross threw six innings allowing one run for the Brewers while Elvis Peguero, Joel Payamps and Trevor Megill finished the day off with scoreless innings.

The game was Counsell’s first time facing the Brewers as Cubs manager since bolting to Chicago for a record free-agent contract in the winter, but his first time going against longtime friend Pat Murphy will have to wait one more day.

Murphy, who recruited and coached Counsell at Notre Dame and later served as his bench coach for eight years in Milwaukee, was watching Friday’s game from the team hotel while serving the last of his two-game suspension.

Instead, Counsell was managing against his former middle infield partner from his playing days in Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks Jr., who serves as the Brewers associate manager.

Two-strike hitting gives the Brewers the lead

The third two-strike single of the eighth inning belonged to Adames, who punched a seeing-eye single past a diving Dansby Swanson and into center field to give the Brewers the lead. Contreras, who had just stolen second base off Adbert Alzolay, scored.

Adames then swiped second, the third of the inning for the Brewers, and scored when Bauers dumped a fourth two-strike single of the inning into center. Milwaukee took a 3-1 lead on the hit. Bauers then stole second, marking the first time the Brewers had four steals in an inning since August 14, 2016.

Jackson Chourio's legs manufacture the tying run

Jackson Chourio made a run happen with his speed to tie the game at 1-1 in the eighth. With one out in the inning, Weeks opted to go with Chourio off the bench against a right-hander over Sal Frelick against a lefty. Chourio singled on the eighth pitch of his at-bat with reliever Adbert Alzolay, stole second base and then scored when he got a great jump on Contreras' line drive single to left.

It was a big hit and even better at-bat for Chourio, the 20-year-old top prospect who has been grinding through struggles of late against big-league pitching. Chourio was 4 for his last 29 at the plate coming into that at-bat.

Hayden Wesneski works into the seventh without giving up a run

Wesneski has been up-and-down between the majors and Class AAA and had not gone more than 4 1/3 in any outing across both levels this year. Friday, he was in cruise control against the Brewers and threw 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball, striking out eight. Milwaukee tallied only three hits against Wesneski, stranding one in the first, two in the second and then two more in the fourth. He retired the final 10 batters he faced.

Joe Ross delivers six quality innings

Two starts ago, Joe Ross was cruising in the sixth inning when the Brewers pulled him at 79 pitches, citing diminishing velocity and movement. The move backfired as the Pirates scored to take the lead and eventually defeat the Brewers.

This time, Ross got burned on pitch number 80. Ross got through 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run and was ahead in the count 0-2 on Christopher Morel. But the Brewers right-hander couldn't put Morel away and challenged him with a 3-2 fastball that Morel turned around and sliced through the wind for a homer to straightaway center for a 1-0 Cubs lead.

One pitch to Morel aside, Ross pitched well, going six complete innings allowing just the one run. The Cubs tagged him for six hits but the Brewers' right-hander executed with traffic, forcing Chicago to bat just 1 for 8 with runners on.

Scoreless through five innings

The wind was blowing in off Lake Michigan today and its impact was certainly felt at Wrigley. Contreras smashed a 110 mph line drive that died at the warning track in right-center while Frelick's fly ball to lead off the game had a chance to do damage on a different day in Chicago. Adames later hit a ball to the warning track in left that otherwise likely could have reached the seats.

The Cubs have also had a pair of deep fly balls come up short against Ross in the early going.

An Oliver Dunn diving stop on a Christopher Morel grounder helped Ross work through the fourth. The Cubs ultimately stranded runners on second and third in the inning when Ross struck out Matt Mervis looking.

Joey Wiemer exits game with injury

Joey Wiemer entered the contest as a late-inning defensive replacement but didn't last long. Two batters into the eighth inning, Wiemer hurt his knee chasing a hit by Nico Hoerner down the line in left field. Wiemer exited the game, but Weeks had no further update immediately following the contest.

Brewers schedule

Brewers at Cubs, Saturday 1:20 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Tobias Myers vs. Chicago RHP Jameson Taillon. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers at Cubs, Sunday 1:20 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta vs. Chicago RHP Javier Assad. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

More: 'Nobody's an enemy': Craig Counsell faces the Brewers for the first time Friday

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers offense rallies late to beat Craig Counsell's Cubs, 3-1