MILWAUKEE -- On Thursday, Cubs manager Joe Maddon compared Javier Baez to Willie Mays because of his heads-up baserunning. On Friday, Baez was on the run again in the Cubs' 5-4 loss to the Brewers.
The Brewers had taken a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning after a pair of two-run home runs off Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks. With two outs in the Cubs' sixth, Brewers manager Craig Counsell called on Jeremy Jeffress to face Baez, who greeted him with an opposite-field triple to right.
Right fielder Domingo Santana relayed the ball to second baseman Eric Sogard, who had just entered the game in a double-switch, and Sogard's throw bounced and hit Baez on the back of the head and skipped past third baseman Travis Shaw for an error. Baez scampered home, encouraged by chants of "Javy, Javy" from the Cubs' fans in the crowd at Miller Park, to tie the game at 4.
On Thursday, Baez hit a two-run single then took advantage of two errors by the Brewers to score in the Cubs' 8-0 victory.