Brewers

The Cubs will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

For the Chicago Cubs -- World Series champs of 2016 -- the 2019 season is effectively over.

Milwaukee won the series 3-1 and pulled within two games of the Cubs for the second NL wild card with three weeks left. The Cardinals are 4 1/2 games ahead of Chicago for the NL Central lead.

Milwaukee pulled within three games of Chicago for the second NL wild card. The Cubs' lead over Arizona was cut to 1½ games.

Kyle Schwarber's grand slam capped a five-run sixth inning and powered the Chicago Cubs to a 10-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night in the opener of a crucial four-game series.

Milwaukee took two of three in the weekend series to pull within three games of Chicago for the second NL wild card.

Nicholas Castellanos hit a pair of two-run homers, José Quintana took a shutout into the sixth inning, and the Chicago Cubs cruised to their fourth straight win, 7-1 over Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.

Jason Heyward drove in three runs, Yu Darvish pitched five effective innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the slumping Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 on Sunday to sweep their weekend series.

Kyle Schwarber hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to power the Chicago Cubs past the Milwaukee Brewers 11-4 on Sunday, averting a three-game sweep in a matchup of NL Central contenders.

Willson Contreras, who struggled in the second half of last season, is off to a strong start, batting .315 with 10 homers. He was understandably fatigued after catching 15 innings on a cool, rainy afternoon, but he still had enough to come through with the big hit.