Chicago Cubs hoping to end four-game skid against Milwaukee Brewers

It has been a rough week for the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs. After suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the Bucs, the skid continued Monday against the Brewers.

Over the past several days, the offense and bullpen are yet to show up. The Chicago Cubs, who were in second early on, now sit behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the division. Yesterday evening, Milwaukee (8-6) launched a trio of home runs in a series-opening 6-3 win.

This Cubs (6-7) bullpen continued to struggle as reliever Mike Montgomery yielded one earned run in the eighth inning. Thankfully, it’s early on in the year and there is plenty of time to make the proper adjustments moving forward.

More from Chicago Cubs News

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis
• Cubs might start to limit Justin Steele’s workload soon

Let’s be honest, the Cubs aren’t going to continue to play this way throughout the season. Everyone is going to have their bad times — remember before the All-Star break? Who knows, this year may be a late bloom.

For now, all eyes will be on southpaw Brett Anderson. Anderson (1-0, 0.84 ERA) has been red-hot for the Cubs over the course of his first two starts with the club.

Fantastic Start

On April 7, Anderson made his Cubs debut in Milwaukee. In 5 2/3 innings of work, the 29-year-old gave up only one earned run on five hits while issuing one walk and striking out four. Despite a solid start, he received a no-decision as did Jimmy Nelson.

Rather disappointing but he finally recorded his first win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Anderson’s former team – might I add. Similar to April 7, Maddon’s newest addition to the rotation worked five innings of solid baseball.

Only this time, the Dodgers were unable to score on him after picking up three hits, drawing four walks and striking out six times. Let’s see if he can manage to keep up his brilliant start to the season with a little run support in the mix.

Taking the mound opposite Anderson will be 27-year-old right-hander, Jimmy Nelson. As mentioned earlier, Nelson squared off against Anderson on April 7, receiving a no-decision.

Next: Concerns with play drawing ire of Cubs fans

Nelson (1-0, 1.38 ERA) has been lights-out as well, giving up only two earned runs on nine hits stretched across 13 frames.

Tonight’s showdown is going to have a rubber match feels as these two pitchers collide at the Friendly Confines. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT as WGN and 670 The Score broadcasts the action.