Chicago Cubs: No letup in series opener against Brewers

The Chicago Cubs seemed to gain momentum with a sweep of the New York Mets this week and showed no mercy in the opener against the Milwaukee Brewers.

It’s been a strange last week-plus for the Chicago Cubs. After the team swept the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals flipped the script, taking all three games in last weekend’s series at Wrigley Field.

Given that letdown, there was a reason to be a bit skeptical the offense would come out flat against Milwaukee, especially considering that they had to play a day game after a night game in New York.

Trotting out a pretty less-than-stellar starting lineup, Joe Maddon drew plenty of ire from armchair managers prior to Friday’s series opener – especially with Ian Happ leading off with Jason Heyward getting the day off. No Heyward, no Kris Bryant, no Anthony Rizzo. Not exactly a situation most folks felt optimistic about.

Instead, Chicago’s lineup jumped all over Brewers starter Chase Anderson from the start and the Cubs cruised to a 6-1 win behind yet another strong effort from starter Jose Quintana.