Cubs 5, Brewers 0: A great start from Javier Assad AND some good relief!

Remember after Saturday’s game, when I opened the complaint department door wide open?

It’s slammed shut and locked today after an outstanding 5-0 Cubs win over the Brewers which took the series and put the Cubs in a virtual tie for first place in the NL Central, just a few percentage points behind Milwaukee. Before the actual recap starts, then:

Cubs 5, Brewers 0: A great start from Javier Assad AND some good relief!

Back to the beginning we go!

Javier Assad continued his outstanding pitching that he’s produced all season. He scattered four hits through the first five innings, and just two Brewers got past first base in that time frame.

Assad got helped out by some stellar Cubs defense.

First inning, Dansby Swanson [VIDEO].

Second inning, Michael Busch [VIDEO].

Fourth inning, Mike Tauchman [VIDEO].

Also in the fourth, Swanson again [VIDEO].

But Cubs hitters could not break through against Freddy Peralta over that span, either. They had just one hit through four, though also four walks in those first four innings that helped run up Peralta’s pitch count.

Busch made another nice defensive play in the top of the fifth [VIDEO].

Finally in the bottom of the fifth, the Cubs offense came alive. With one out, Pete Crow-Armstrong beat out an infield hit and Miguel Amaya was hit by a pitch.

Nico Hoerner doubled in both runners [VIDEO].

Hoerner now has 10 doubles, which ranks tied for fourth in the National League.

Nico took third on an infield out and scored on this wild pitch [VIDEO].

So it’s 3-0 heading to the sixth. Will that be enough? You were nervous, admit it. Assad was done after having thrown 94 pitches, and the bullpen was going to have to do its job on this brilliantly sunny day at Wrigley Field.

Swanson gave the Cubs a cushion with this solo homer leading off the bottom of the sixth [VIDEO].

That, my friends, was a REALLY good piece of hitting. A 99 mile an hour fastball, down in the zone, wind blowing in — and Swanson got all of it [VIDEO].

So, the Cubs had the same situation as Saturday, though arrived at differently: a 4-0 lead heading to the seventh.

Yency Almonte was entrusted with the lead and he had an outstanding seventh, striking out the side on just 11 pitches.

The Cubs extended the lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Mike Tauchman singled, then advanced to second on an infield out.

Christopher Morel singled him in [VIDEO].

Morel had an excellent day at the plate, with three walks in addition to the single.

Almonte, with the low pitch count from the seventh, was left in to throw the eighth, and he did that 1-2-3 on a ground out and two fly balls to left. That’s six outs on just 19 pitches, an excellent outing. Almonte, after a rough start to his year, has been really good recently and likely will move up the “circle of trust” that Craig Counsell has been searching for.

Daniel Palencia, another pitcher who could move up that list if he could harness that 101 mile per hour fastball for strikes, was entrusted with the ninth. He allowed a two-out infield single and then struck out Blake Perkins to end it [VIDEO].

About the starting pitching, from BCB’s JohnW53:

In their last 13 games, through today, Cubs starters have allowed 13 earned runs in 73⅓ innings, for an ERA of 1.60. They gave up three once (in 3⅔ IP, by Ben Brown), two twice (in six, by Jordan Wicks, and 4⅔, by Brown), one in six, and none in four — all in the last 5 games!