The Rundown: Cubs Fall Out of First, Brown Holds His Own Against Misiorowski, Schwarber Chasing 70
“The man in the street dragging his feet won’t wanna hear the bad news.” – Only a Fool Would Say That by Steely Dan
The Cubs lost 5-2 to the Brewers, their eight defeat in 10 games, and surrendered first place in the process. Milwaukee’s bunch of no-names, led by Jacob Misiorowski and Brice Turang, surged to the top of the NL Central thanks to an 8-2 run that lifted them out of last place in a little more than a week. Chicago dropped to third, four percentage points behind the shockingly good Cardinals. When was the last time a third-place team had two 10-game winning streaks in its first 50 games?
The lone bright spot in lost night’s loss was Ben Brown, who finally looks like the starter Jed Hoyer hoped for when he acquired him for David Robertson in 2022. The 26-year-old righty gave up three runs on seven hits in five innings of work, but recorded six punchouts and nine groundouts in a very good effort. He’s allowed just four earned runs in 17.2 innings of work (2.04 ERA) over the last three weeks, which is almost Misiorowski-like. Brown wasn’t the stopper the Cubs needed, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.
The good news is that Chicago can reclaim first place with a win tonight and a Cardinals loss. Edward Cabrera takes the bump, and he’ll be opposed by Kyle Harrison. The Cubs will host the Astros for a weekend set after an off day tomorrow. Expect Houston (20-30) to feel the wrath of Chicago’s frustrations in that series.
Cubs News & Notes
- The Cubs lead MLB with 396 runners left on base, 26 more than any other team. That’s also 58 more than league average.
- Yesterday’s loss marked the first time Chicago has lost back-to-back home games since April 10-11.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong has been fined $5,000 for his vulgar interaction with a White Sox fan.
- The center fielder said ChiSox fans were insulting his mom all game and he let it get the best of him.
- Misiorowski continued his unprecedented run in his win over the Cubs.
- The newest additions to Chicago’s top 30 prospects per Baseball America ($) are right-handed pitchers Eli Jerzembeck, Mason McGwire, Emilio Ramos, and Dawson Netz. All carry a 45-grade or lower, however.
Ball Four
James Wood hit an inside-the-park grand slam that epitomizes a Mets season that’s gone off the rails. Chico Walker (1991) is the only Cub to accomplish that feat. Ron Karkovice did it with the White Sox in 1990, and Jim Essian had one in ’79 as a member of the A’s.
JAMES WOOD INSIDE-THE-PARK GRAND SLAM! pic.twitter.com/8P0K4jhApZ
— MLB (@MLB) May 20, 2026
Central Intelligence
- Milwaukee (28-18): Stats analyst Mike Petriello of MLB.com said Misiorowski had thrown 233 pitches of 100 mph or faster entering play Tuesday. All other major-league starting pitchers combined had thrown 149. The Miz added 15 to that total last night.
- St. Louis (28-19): The Tarps-Off Crew threw out the ceremonial first pitch before yesterday’s Cardinals-Pirates game.
- Chicago (29-20): If you had to choose one, would you prefer Freddy Peralta or Sandy Alcántara? Matt Shaw is probably the trade bait, which could be slightly awkward if he goes to the Mets.
- Cincinnati (25-24): Chase Burns took a 108.8 mph liner to his backside courtesy of Bryce Harper, and still stymied the Phillies.
- Pittsburgh (24-24): Seth Hernandez is the next potential ace working his way to the Pirates’ MLB roster.
How About That!
The White Sox are becoming a bigger story in Chicago than the Cubs.
Kyle Schwarber is on pace to hit 66 home runs this season and could hit 70.
Aaron Judge will make history if he hits at least 50 homers this season. It would be his fifth time, and the Yankee slugger is on pace to belt 54 bombs. Babe Ruth hit that benchmark four times, as did Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.
The Tigers are struggling without Tarik Skubal, but they’re still unlikely to trade the ace.
Mets pitching prospect Zach Thornton is expected to debut against the Nationals today. The lefty is a borderline top-10 prospect in New York’s system.
Gerrit Cole will make his 2026 debut against the Rays on Friday. Cole is recovering from Tommy John surgery and hasn’t pitched for the Yankees since the 2024 World Series.
Apropos of Nothing
Chicago’s failure to draft and develop top-of-rotation starters will be the gaping hole in what has otherwise been an outstanding run during the Epstein-Hoyer years. Dylan Cease never pitched for the Cubs, and Cade Horton may never stay healthy enough to break the dubious 15-year streak. Let’s see how Justin Steele does once he returns, but the Cubs have nothing close to the likes of Misiorowski, Burns, or Paul Skenes.
There are 20 MLB teams with a homegrown ace or an emerging one. The Cubs, however, have mostly preferred college hitters. The Epstein and Hoyer front offices succeeded with that type of talent in the first round of the draft, going all the way back to Kris Bryant. Shaw, Ian Happ, and Nico Hoerner are among Chicago’s best current players.
Extra Innings
I agree with Happ, but for the love of Mike, stop leaving so many runners stranded.
"If you would have told us this was going to be our record at this point in the season, I think everyone would have signed up for it. Move on from here and attack tomorrow."
Ian Happ and the Cubs are ready to reset and take care of business tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Hrr6AosfJo
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 20, 2026
They Said It
- “All the games we play [against Milwaukee] seem like they’re really close. I recall just the battles the last couple years — even in the postseason, obviously — but just the regular-season battles that seem a little bit like everybody’s a little more on edge. This is getting us better as a team, though.” – Brown
- “I was proud of Ben. They’ve got a lot of guys swinging it well and I thought Ben made some pretty good pitches — even on some hits. But he got in some trouble and he made some big [pitches].” – Craig Counsell
Wednesday Walk-Up Song
Big Country dropped this banger 43 years ago today. The song is ranked No. 40 on the VH-1 Top 100 One-Hit Wonder list.
