Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (3/23/24): Brewers 7, Cubs 4 – Scary Gary Leads Brew Crew to Win

The Cubs took on the Brewers at Sloan Park on Saturday afternoon as the regular season fast approaches. It was pretty even before the reserves came in, at which point Milwaukee was able to blow it open and take the win.

Ben Brown got the start and looked very good, pitching four shutout frames with three strikeouts. The Cubs went ahead in the 5th inning when Nico Hoerner hit an opposite-field triple to score Miguel Amaya.

Veteran catcher Gary Sánchez homered off of Keegan Thompson in the following frame to even the score. The Brewers broke the game wide open on Chicago reliever Daniel Palencia in the 7th, putting up five runs to take a 6-1 lead.

The Cubs rallied a little bit, scoring three times with the big blow coming on a two-run home run by catcher Joe Hudson in the final inning. The late fireworks were not enough though, and Milwaukee won 7-4. (Box score)

Why the Cubs Lost

This was a tie game when the respective bullpens took over and the Brewers’ unit was better Saturday.

Stats That Matter

• Hoerner had a pair of hits which is good to see after he’s had a pretty quiet spring.
• Yency Almonte, who appears to have secured a spot in the bullpen with Carl Edwards Jr. opting out of his contract, pitched a clean inning with a strikeout Saturday.

Bottom Line

Brown will almost certainly start the year in Iowa but he has been impressive this spring and will definitely be up in Chicago at some point this season. Otherwise, there wasn’t much of note on Saturday as Craig Counsell and company burn off the final couple days on the exhibition calendar.

On Deck

The Cubs play their final road game of the spring in Peoria on Sunday against the Mariners at 3:10pm CT. Kyle Hendricks gets his final tuneup before the season. Marquee isn’t providing a broadcast but Seattle’s coverage is available for free on MLB.TV.