Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong homer as the NL Central-leading Cubs knock off the Brewers 5-3

CHICAGO (AP) — Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong homered, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 on Tuesday night in a matchup of NL Central contenders.

Kyle Tucker had three hits as Chicago improved to 4-1 on a 10-game homestand. Matt Shaw lined a run-scoring double, and Ben Brown (4-5) pitched five innings of two-run ball.

The Cubs upped their division lead to 6 1/2 games over the second-place Brewers, who won the NL Central in each of the past two years.

Isaac Collins hit a two-run homer for Milwaukee. Collins also made a terrific diving catch on Michael Busch's liner to left in the second.

The Brewers had a 2-1 lead before the Cubs rallied in the fifth against Chad Patrick (3-7).

Ian Happ reached on a one-out walk and Tucker doubled before Suzuki connected for his 18th homer, driving a sinker into the bleachers in left-center.

Brown allowed six hits, struck out five and walked two in his first win since May 2. The right-hander improved to 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in three career starts against Milwaukee, striking out 19 in 18 innings.

The Brewers closed to 4-3 on Joey Ortiz's single in the sixth. But Brad Keller and Caleb Thielbar each pitched an inning before Daniel Palencia handled the ninth for his seventh save.

Crow-Armstrong helped Thielbar with a diving catch on Brice Turang's liner in the eighth. Then he led off the bottom half of the inning with a 452-foot drive off the scoreboard in right for his 19th homer, sparking another round of “P-C-A!” chants from the crowd.

Key moment

The Brewers had a chance to tie the game in the seventh, putting a runner on third with two down. But Rhys Hoskins struck out swinging.

Key stat

The Cubs are 3-1 against the Brewers this year. They went 5-8 against Milwaukee last season.

Up next

Jacob Misiorowski (1-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his second major league start for Milwaukee on Wednesday night. Jameson Taillon (7-3, 3.48 ERA) goes for his sixth consecutive win for Chicago.

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