CHICAGO (AP) — Owen Caissie homered and drove in three runs, and the Chicago Cubs held off the Milwaukee Brewers for a 6-4 win in the opener of a split doubleheader on Tuesday.
Willi Castro also went deep as Chicago won for the third time in four games. Four Cubs relievers combined for 3 2/3 innings of two-hit ball after Matthew Boyd (12-6) departed in the sixth.
Chicago (71-54) pulled within eight games of NL Central-leading Milwaukee (79-46). The teams were originally scheduled for a doubleheader on Monday, but the second game was postponed by rain.
Christian Yelich homered for Milwaukee, and Sal Frelick had two hits and two RBIs. It was just the third loss for the Brewers in their last 21 games.
Chicago built a 5-0 lead on Caissie’s two-run single in the first and Castro’s three-run shot off Chad Patrick (3-8) in the third. It was Castro’s first homer since he was acquired in a July 31 trade with Minnesota.
But Milwaukee quickly started chipping away at the deficit. Yelich opened the fourth with his 26th homer, and Frelick singled home Brandon Lockridge in the fifth. Frelick added another RBI single in a two-run sixth.
Caissie then gave the Cubs a boost with his first major league homer, a 381-foot drive to left-center off Shelby Miller that made it 6-4 in the bottom half of the sixth. The 23-year-old Caissie singled in the seventh inning of Monday’s 7-0 loss in the series opener for his first big league hit.
Caleb Thielbar and Drew Pomeranz each pitched an inning for Chicago before Daniel Palencia handled the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.
Key moment
The Brewers had runners on second and third with two out in the sixth when Brad Keller struck out Caleb Durbin swinging, preserving the Cubs’ 5-4 lead.
Key stat
The Cubs improved to 5-5 in the season series against the Brewers.
Up next
Brandon Woodruff (4-0, 2.06 ERA) starts for Milwaukee in the second game, and fellow right-hander Jameson Taillon (7-6, 4.44) pitches for Chicago.