Mike Fiers pitching at Wrigley Field has come to mean great things for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Fiers turned in his second terrific start in as many turns at the Friendly Confines on a sunny Saturday afternoon, striking out a season-high 12 and allowing just three hits to lead the Brewers past the Chicago Cubs, 6-1.
The right-hander also walked two, issuing both in the first inning, and made just one major mistake in his 100-pitch outing by allowing a sixth-inning home run to Anthony Rizzo.
Fiers struck out 14 over six innings in beating the Cubs on their home field last Aug. 14, tying him with Moose Haas and Yovani Gallardo for second-most in a single game in franchise history.
And how's this for exclusive company: Fiers joins Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only visiting pitchers to record 26 or more strikeouts in consecutive outings at Wrigley Field. Koufax accomplished the feat three times.
"It seems that way," Fiers said when asked if he felt especially comfortable pitching at Wrigley Field.
"I felt good the starts before; I just didn't get it done. Today I felt great. I was attacking the guys and getting them to swing the bat because I was throwing a lot of strikes and then expanding the zone and getting the swings and misses."
It was the fifth 10-plus strikeout game of Fiers' career, and a performance he badly needed. Fiers entered the day with an 0-3 record, an earned run average of 5.79 and with the distinction of being the only member of the Brewers' rotation without a quality start.
"I'm glad he got back to the type of pitcher he is," said manager Ron Roenicke, whose team tied a franchise record for a nine-inning game by recording 18 strikeouts. It had not been accomplished since May 6, 2004, when Ben Sheets struck out 18 himself in beating the Atlanta Braves.
"We've been waiting for one of these starts to get him rolling. We know what happens when he gets on a roll. I think confidence is part of that. He should walk away from this feeling really good.
"When he has life in his pitches, he can put up a lot of zeros in a game."
The Brewers got out to a quick lead in the first against Cubs starter Jake Arrieta after Jean Segura singled and Ryan Braun crushed a 95-mph first-pitch fastball out to center. It was the fourth homer in four games for Braun, who took over the team lead with five.
Fiers, meanwhile, worked around that pair of free passes to strike out the side with punchouts of Kris Bryant and Miguel Montero ending the frame.
Martin Maldonado led off the second with a bloop single, moved up to second on a one-out sacrifice by Fiers and then scored when Carlos Gomez — who was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day — followed with a blooper to short right.
Gomez quickly stole second and third and then came in to score on a single up the middle by Segura that glanced off the glove of shortstop Starlin Castro.
The four runs were one more than Arrieta gave up to the Brewers in 131/3 innings over two starts last season.
Staked to that lead, Fiers settled in and rolled through the next three innings while not allowing a hit. Chris Denorfia singled to left with one out in the fifth to break up the budding no-hitter, and Addison Russell singled two batters later to put two on for Jorge Soler.
But Fiers struck out Soler to end the frame and give himself 10 punchouts for the first time this season.
Fiers made it 11 when he struck out Dexter Fowler to lead off the bottom of the sixth before Rizzo homered to center to break up the shutout. Fiers recovered by striking out Bryant and getting Montero to line out.
"It's definitely a step in the right direction," said Fiers, who improved to 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA and 39 strikeouts in five career games (four starts) against the Cubs.
"I think I was fine mentally before, but it's great to get a great start like this and get a good team win and move on from it so the next start I have that in the back of my mind that, 'Hey, I can still do this.' I never thought that I couldn't pitch at this level at any time.
"But it's definitely a confidence booster."
With his spot due up to start the seventh and his pitch count at 100, Fiers departed in favor of pinch hitter Gerardo Parra. He became the first visiting pitcher to record 10 or more strikeouts in consecutive starts since Gallardo did it on Aug. 2, 2010, and June 14, 2011.
The move to pinch hit with Parra paid off, as he doubled down the first-base line against Gonzalez German. Logan Schafer, inserted for Gomez, bunted Parra up to third and Segura tripled to right-center to stretch the Brewers' lead back to four runs at 5-1.
Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith combined to pitch scoreless seventh and eighth innings, and Francisco Rodriguez finished up in the ninth.
Fiers turned in his second terrific start in as many turns at the Friendly Confines on a sunny Saturday afternoon, striking out a season-high 12 and allowing just three hits to lead the Brewers past the Chicago Cubs, 6-1.
The right-hander also walked two, issuing both in the first inning, and made just one major mistake in his 100-pitch outing by allowing a sixth-inning home run to Anthony Rizzo.
Fiers struck out 14 over six innings in beating the Cubs on their home field last Aug. 14, tying him with Moose Haas and Yovani Gallardo for second-most in a single game in franchise history.
And how's this for exclusive company: Fiers joins Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only visiting pitchers to record 26 or more strikeouts in consecutive outings at Wrigley Field. Koufax accomplished the feat three times.
"It seems that way," Fiers said when asked if he felt especially comfortable pitching at Wrigley Field.
"I felt good the starts before; I just didn't get it done. Today I felt great. I was attacking the guys and getting them to swing the bat because I was throwing a lot of strikes and then expanding the zone and getting the swings and misses."
It was the fifth 10-plus strikeout game of Fiers' career, and a performance he badly needed. Fiers entered the day with an 0-3 record, an earned run average of 5.79 and with the distinction of being the only member of the Brewers' rotation without a quality start.
"I'm glad he got back to the type of pitcher he is," said manager Ron Roenicke, whose team tied a franchise record for a nine-inning game by recording 18 strikeouts. It had not been accomplished since May 6, 2004, when Ben Sheets struck out 18 himself in beating the Atlanta Braves.
"We've been waiting for one of these starts to get him rolling. We know what happens when he gets on a roll. I think confidence is part of that. He should walk away from this feeling really good.
"When he has life in his pitches, he can put up a lot of zeros in a game."
The Brewers got out to a quick lead in the first against Cubs starter Jake Arrieta after Jean Segura singled and Ryan Braun crushed a 95-mph first-pitch fastball out to center. It was the fourth homer in four games for Braun, who took over the team lead with five.
Fiers, meanwhile, worked around that pair of free passes to strike out the side with punchouts of Kris Bryant and Miguel Montero ending the frame.
Martin Maldonado led off the second with a bloop single, moved up to second on a one-out sacrifice by Fiers and then scored when Carlos Gomez — who was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day — followed with a blooper to short right.
Gomez quickly stole second and third and then came in to score on a single up the middle by Segura that glanced off the glove of shortstop Starlin Castro.
The four runs were one more than Arrieta gave up to the Brewers in 131/3 innings over two starts last season.
Staked to that lead, Fiers settled in and rolled through the next three innings while not allowing a hit. Chris Denorfia singled to left with one out in the fifth to break up the budding no-hitter, and Addison Russell singled two batters later to put two on for Jorge Soler.
But Fiers struck out Soler to end the frame and give himself 10 punchouts for the first time this season.
Fiers made it 11 when he struck out Dexter Fowler to lead off the bottom of the sixth before Rizzo homered to center to break up the shutout. Fiers recovered by striking out Bryant and getting Montero to line out.
"It's definitely a step in the right direction," said Fiers, who improved to 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA and 39 strikeouts in five career games (four starts) against the Cubs.
"I think I was fine mentally before, but it's great to get a great start like this and get a good team win and move on from it so the next start I have that in the back of my mind that, 'Hey, I can still do this.' I never thought that I couldn't pitch at this level at any time.
"But it's definitely a confidence booster."
With his spot due up to start the seventh and his pitch count at 100, Fiers departed in favor of pinch hitter Gerardo Parra. He became the first visiting pitcher to record 10 or more strikeouts in consecutive starts since Gallardo did it on Aug. 2, 2010, and June 14, 2011.
The move to pinch hit with Parra paid off, as he doubled down the first-base line against Gonzalez German. Logan Schafer, inserted for Gomez, bunted Parra up to third and Segura tripled to right-center to stretch the Brewers' lead back to four runs at 5-1.
Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith combined to pitch scoreless seventh and eighth innings, and Francisco Rodriguez finished up in the ninth.