CHICAGO -- There’s no doubt Ben Brown has had a difficult season. He has struggled with consistency and has been hit hard on the mound. But it’s starts like Sunday that show Brown’s potential.
The right-hander gave the Cubs five solid innings in the team’s 5-4 win over the White Sox at Rate Field. After dropping the first game of the series, the team won each of the last two games to win the Crosstown Classic series.
“He gave us exactly what we needed, and he came up big time,” manager Craig Counsell said of Brown’s outing. “I was hoping for, frankly, 12 outs, and he got us 15 outs. So, he did a heck of a job. He threw a lot of strikes, played well behind, so job well done for sure.”
Brown did a nice job navigating the strike zone in Sunday’s win. He really settled in after allowing a home run to Andrew Benintendi in the first inning, retiring 12 of the next 14 batters he faced.
In the only other inning he faced some trouble, he got out of it -- thanks to a heads-up play by Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. Brown allowed back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the third inning, but struck out Mike Tauchman the very next batter on a nasty knuckle curve.
“The curveball has just really been taking a step up,” Brown said. “It’s encouraging to see swings and misses, especially first and second, no out. Those are some at-bats I’ve struggled with this year. I haven’t done a good job minimizing damage or stopping a rally. Being able to get the strikeout is something that I need as part of my game.”
Following the strikeout, Brown then induced a weak popup toward Hoerner near first base. The former Gold Glove winner purposely dropped the popup on an infield fly rule and caught Lenyn Sosa trying to go to third.
It’s moments like these that things can start to unravel for a young pitcher. That has certainly been the case several times for Brown this season. However, Sunday was a much different story for the right-hander.
“I’m just super grateful to have Nico as a teammate,” Brown said. “The baseball IQ out of him, it’s Nico, it’s just the way he is. But no surprise what he did there.”
The consistent swing-and-miss stuff wasn’t necessarily there for Brown, considering he generated six whiffs (all on his knuckle curve). The most important thing, though, was that he got outs and handed the ball to the bullpen with a lead.
Brown allowed just one run on three hits with four strikeouts while throwing 39 of 57 pitches for strikes. He also issued no walks for the second straight time and continues to work hard to be a more consistent pitcher in the Majors.
“I’ve been working hard in bullpens to increase execution,” Brown said. “Obviously, the homer to Benintendi was a mistake, and that’s something we’re working on. Fastball execution opened up a lot of room for my curveball today. I’m really happy with how that went for me.”
Brown has certainly been trying to find answers on the mound in recent weeks. He entered Sunday’s start with a 10.07 ERA across his past four Major League outings and allowed at least six earned runs in three of his past four appearances.
Although Brown spent roughly a month down in Triple-A following his demotion on June 24, he didn’t have much success in his first appearance back up here Monday. He allowed seven runs (six earned) across four innings against the Royals.
So, giving the Cubs five solid innings is a major confidence boost for a pitcher who is still developing.
“It’s been hard,” Brown said. “It’s been a challenge, been a grind, and to have a good one, I’m just excited to celebrate with my wife tonight and just sleep easy.”
With the win and the Brewers’ 3-2 victory over the Marlins on Sunday afternoon, the Cubs will now head to Milwaukee for a key three-game series. Those two clubs are currently tied atop the National League Central, and this series could play a big factor down the stretch.
“They’ve played really great baseball here, especially lately,” Hoerner said. “It’s a strong division right now. Obviously, that’s why you need 162 games to really see the test of it. Fortunately, we play them a lot between now and the end of the year. So, it’s gonna be fun.”