In the opening game of the series against Craig Counsell’s Cubs, the Brewers prevail 3-1.

The Cubs, led by Craig Counsell, were defeated 3-1 in the Brewers’ opening game as a result of a surge led by four stolen bases in the eighth inning.

Joe Ross and Hayden Wesneski, both pitchers, held the opposition offense off the board for the first five innings in a pitchers’ battle.

The Cubs received a leadoff hit from Michael Busch in the second and were unable to advance him over, while the Brewers had runners in scoring position in the first, second, and fourth but were unable to move anybody beyond second base. In the fourth, the Cubs loaded the bases as well, but Matt Mervis struck out to finish the rally and maintain the score tied at 0-0.

With his sixth home run of the season against Ross in the sixth inning, Christopher Morel broke the tie and made it 1-0.

Mike Tauchman robbed Blake Perkins of a hit to start the eighth after Perkins finished the seventh by throwing out Miguel Amaya trying to stretch a single into a double.

But Adbert Alzolay entered and let up four singles in the next five hitters, so the Brewers wouldn’t need Perkins. In addition to Jackson Chourio, who started the comeback with a single and a steal, William Contreras, Willy Adames, and Jake Bauers all recorded RBIs.

There wasn’t much drama in the last inning and a half since Trevor Megill and Joel Payamps only let up one baserunner—a single to Nico Hoerner in the eighth—during that time. Sadly, Joey Wiemer seemed to twist his ankle fielding the ball, and as a result, he was taken out of the game right away after that single.

The only other Brewer with two hits was Brice Turang, with the other six all having one hit apiece. In the victory, five Brewers (Tyler Black, Chourio, Contreras, Adames, and Bauers) recorded a stolen base. Bauers reached base twice on hits and walks.

Joe Ross allowed one earned run across six innings, striking out four and giving up six hits and no walks. Elvis Peguero, Payamps, and Megill combined to allow just two hits in the final three innings to help Milwaukee earn a series-opening win.

The Brewers return to action Saturday afternoon with Pat Murphy back in the dugout for the first time since Tuesday. First pitch is at 1:20 p.m. with Tobias Myers on the mound for Milwaukee and Jameson Taillon starting for Chicago.