Chicago Cubs: Kyle Schwarber’s slam leads to win over Brewers

The Chicago Cubs Jose Quintana didn’t have his best stuff, but the offense was there to save the day. Willson Contreras had four hits, and Kyle Schwarber smacked a grand slam to lead the Cubs to a 10-5 victory.

The Chicago Cubs Jose Quintana didn’t pitch as well as he has, but he got the win as Kyle Schwarber put it out of reach with a grand slam in the sixth inning. Quintana was on the books as the winning pitcher, but Schwarber mashed the first pitch from Drew Pomeranz deep into the seats to put it away.

As our Tim Stebbins mentioned, Schwarber should start every game from here on out. Since August 1, Schwarber has been white-hot. He’s slashing .300/.406/.722 with an OPS of 1.128. In that span, he’s hit 10 home runs, six doubles, a triple and knocked in 27.

Quintana had a rough game, but he put himself in line for the win. He went five innings allowing four runs on five hits. He gave up two home runs and walked two while striking out five. Still, in his last 12 games, he’s 9-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Quite impressive for a guy that was supposed to be nothing more than a No. 4 or No. 5 starter. 

Ben Zobrist went 3-for-3 with two walks–typical Zo. And Willson Contreras continued his hot hitting since he came back from the IL with a hamstring strain. He’s 6-for-8 with two doubles, two home runs and three RBI.

Unfortunately, the Cubs received some bad news yesterday. Craig Kimbrel was placed on the 10-day IL with elbow inflammation. The MRI came back clean, so the team should be able to give him 7-10 days to let the inflammation calm down and get him back. The Cubs didn’t need a closer last night, but I think they should put Rowan Wick in Kimbrel’s place for the time he’s out.

He’s in Joe Maddon‘s ‘circle of trust,’ presumably, and he hasn’t been given closing opportunities and much as Brandon Kintzler, Steve Cishek and Pedro Strop. In the time that Kimbrel’s on the IL, let him have the chance to close out games.

Tonight it’s the Cubs Cole Hamels (7-5, 3.69) going up against soft-tossing Zac Davies (8-7, 3.76.) Davies pitched the first 4 2/3 innings of back-to-back shutouts at Wrigley Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 CT at Miller Park.