El Mago, Hoerner test Hader in epic ninth

CHICAGO -- The entire four-game series between the Brewers and Cubs was a nail-biter. There was a two-run Cubs victory in the opener followed by three consecutive come-from-behind, one-run victories for the Brewers, including Sunday’s 6-5 win at Wrigley Field.

So, why not finish the weekend with one of the most entertaining half-innings of all?

“We hung with them, and it’s because we pitched well again,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.

It wasn’t for lack of effort from the home team. With the Cubs down a run and Brewers closer Josh Hader back on the mound at Wrigley Field, two days after he needed 35 pitches for the final four outs on Friday, David Bote opened the inning by working Hader for a nine-pitch strikeout that set the tone for more drama to come.

Up next was Javier Báez, pinch-hitting on a day he’d been given a bit of a breather. Báez has been battling a sinus issue, and the Cubs are facing five games in three days coming up against the Cardinals. Springing into action, Báez hit a bouncer along the first-base line, which Hader fielded on the way toward the bag. It looked like Báez would be an easy out, but at the last moment he ducked away from Hader and tried to slide foot first into first base. The initial call was safe, and it took a replay review to overturn the call. A second look in slow motion showed that Hader barely had applied the tag in time.

It wasn’t the first time Báez tried that move. Last April against the Dodgers, he juked around first baseman David Freese for a sneaky single.

“I was on deck and he hit that ball and I almost wasn't surprised at all,” Nico Hoerner said. “With a ball in that little area, they've shown that replay from last year against the Dodgers so many times that you knew something good was going to happen. From the naked eye, I thought he got in. I guess he was out.”

So Hoerner represented the Cubs’ last chance.

He saw Bote’s long battle and raised it, fouling off seven consecutive full-count offerings from the pitcher who owns the highest strikeout rate in Major League history.

“Slapped a really good at-bat on him,” Kyle Schwarber said of Hoerner. “I mean, I can't say enough about the kid, the way he's going about playing the game.”

Said Hoerner: “That's a situation as a baseball player you want to be in, right? Down one, against a division rival and against ‘their guy.’”

Credit Hader, too.

He had fallen behind in the count, 3-0, before working his way back in with help from a high strike call from home-plate umpire Jordan Baker at 3-1. After that, Hader went fastball, fastball, fastball, slider, fastball, slider, fastball with a mix of high and low in the zone -- and sometimes way up above the zone.

Hoerner fouled them all off.

“In an ideal world, you don't swing at any balls, right?” Hoerner said. “But, Josh Hader's pretty tough to take up in the strike zone. So, I felt comfortable. I felt confident. I expected to have success there.”

Finally, on the 13th pitch -- another fastball -- Hoerner hit a line drive to center field at 100.4 mph off the bat. According to Statcast, it had a .910 expected batting average. But it was right at Avisaíl García, who made the game-ending catch with a little leap.

It continued Hader’s almost unfathomable run of success against the Brewers’ chief rival. Starting with the last out of Game 163 in 2018, the Cubs are a collective 1-for-37 with 19 strikeouts against Hader. The last 29 Cubs batters to face him have gone hitless.

“The last ball scared all of us,” Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia said. “Even Avisaíl, jumping up. I was jumping up from shortstop."

“It was a great battle,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “I think we have to give Josh a little bit of credit, too, for continuing to throw strikes and competitive pitches. It was a great battle. He ended up hitting the ball hard.”

Both teams hope to play more meaningful games when they are scheduled to meet again during the second week of September.