'That’s our jam': Crew overcomes adversity yet again with late rally

CHICAGO -- This weekend’s matchup between the Brewers and Cubs at Wrigley Field would be a big series no matter who’s managing.

But the Pat Murphy-Craig Counsell matchup will have to wait. With Murphy serving the back end of a two-game suspension on Friday, it was Counsell’s former teammate and Milwaukee's associate manager Rickie Weeks Jr. pushing all the right buttons in the Brewers’ 3-1 win in the first matchup of the National League Central’s top two teams.

Weeks summoned Jackson Chourio from the bench with one out in the eighth inning and Chourio knocked a pinch-hit single off erstwhile Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay to spark a go-ahead, three-run rally with the wind blowing in. The Brewers used small ball to turn a 1-0 deficit into a multirun lead with four well-placed base hits -- all with two strikes -- and four stolen bases, three of which led to the runs that sealed Milwaukee’s second victory in as many games on Weeks’ watch.

“It was one of those Chicago days that we had to hunker down and do some stuff on the basepaths and get creative a little bit,” Weeks said.

It started with Chourio, whose hot start has been followed by just the sort of lumps you’d expect Major League Baseball’s youngest player to absorb. He entered the day with six hits in his past 45 at-bats.

But Weeks called for Chourio to hit against Cubs lefty Richard Lovelady, knowing Counsell would counter with the righty Alzolay. Chourio came back from an 0-2 count to single on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, then stole second and scored the tying run on William Contreras’ base hit.

It started a trend. Contreras stole second and scored on Willy Adames’ base hit. Then Adames stole second and scored on Jake Bauers’ base hit.

“There's some players and speed that are just tough to stop,” Counsell said.

Asked what the Brewers saw to take such liberties on the basepaths in that inning, Weeks countered, “Have you seen us play yet?”

“[Chourio] has been scuffling a little bit lately,” Weeks said, “but seeing the work that he’s put in, and being that young and not being really scared, I thought he was the right man for the job right there.”

Said Contreras: “Chourio was the principal piece of that to start all of that.”

It was always going to come down to the players in this series, even though the résumé updates in Milwaukee and Chicago last fall are a significant part of what Weeks referred to as the “hoopla” surrounding this weekend.

“When it’s all said and done, the guys on the field determine the outcome,” said injured Brewers star Christian Yelich. “It’s still the same old, same old when we play the Cubs -- it’s the intensity and the passion from the fan bases and the teams. It’s business as usual, obviously.

“They’ve got some guys out, and we’ve got some guys out from injury and suspension. It’s become our identity a little bit this year.”

The Brewers have played shorthanded for a while. Yelich’s hot start was cooled by a back flare and the pitching staff has taken injury hit after injury hit, starting with reigning NL Reliever of the Year Devin Williams in Spring Training. On Friday, outfielder Joey Wiemer injured his right knee when he slipped in left field.

There’s also the question about whether the team’s ace, Freddy Peralta, will pitch in this series. He drew a five-game suspension from MLB following a heated Brewers win over the Rays on Tuesday and has appealed. Peralta said Friday morning that he expects to go as scheduled on Sunday at the Cubs.

Here’s the best-case scenario for the Brewers: Peralta gets to pitch in Chicago as he so badly desires, then drops his appeal, serves his five games and starts again on May 11 against the Cardinals.

Of that latest dose of roster uncertainty, GM Matt Arnold shrugged and said, “That’s our jam.”

“It’s just another series against the Cubs,” Arnold said. “I think this group is ready for this.”

They were. Though Weeks made the moves, the Brewers’ last two victories will be reflected on the record of Murphy, who will be back in the dugout on Saturday to manage against his former pupil.

Murphy is ready to experience the “hoopla” of Brewers-Cubs.

“I think it’s great to go through a big series like this,” Murphy said. “Some of it is blown out of proportion but it doesn’t matter. I think it’s great for the game, I think it’s great young players like we have.”