SPORTS LINE

After an impressive series against the Boston Red Sox, the Brewers will turn their attention to the rival Chicago Cubs.
It’s destined to be an exciting matchup between the top two teams in the National League Central. The Cubs got off to a hot start, but they’ve had a rough run with a 9-13 record in May. This must make the Brewers giggle a little on the inside since the Cubs stole their head coach at the end of the last season. Counsell surprisingly jumped ship to the rival Cubs after nine seasons with the Brewers, a move that made him the highest-paid manager in the majors. Maybe that added fuel to the fire and motivated the team to do so well this first part of the season. They want to prove that they don’t need Craig Counsell to be a winning team. The intense rivalry between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers moves up a notch Monday when Chicago manager Craig Counsell returns to Milwaukee for the first time since abruptly leaving the Brewers in the offseason. We have to go out there and win the game,” Brewer’s outfielder Christian Yelich said Sunday.

Craig Counsell’s first game at American Family Field since the Chicago Cubs hired him away from Milwaukee included a warm scoreboard message and a couple hearty rounds of boos. A brief pregame video showcased some highlights from Counsell’s tenure as Milwaukee’s manager. Brewer’s fans booed throughout the video and then booed again when he was introduced as the Cubs’ manager. Fans feel betrayed and they let Counsell know it. Willy Adames hit a three-run homer during Milwaukee’s five-run eighth inning, and the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 5-1 on Monday. The Cubs lost their fifth straight and wasted a brilliant performance from Justin Steele, who spent most of the day matching scoreless innings with Milwaukee’s Robert Gasser. Steele pitched seven innings before the Brewers broke through against Mark Leiter Jr. (1-3) and Hayden Wesneski in the eighth. Milwaukee’s Bryan Hudson (3-0) worked his way out of a jam in the seventh and handled the eighth for the win. The NL Central-leading Brewers moved 4½ games ahead of the second-place Cubs.