Gio day to day after injury exit in 7th inning

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers left-hander Gio González was deemed day to day with left shoulder tightness after exiting Milwaukee's 3-2 victory Friday at Miller Park, a diagnosis that qualified as promising news for a pitching staff hit hard by injuries this week.

Gonzalez took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before the Cubs struck for the game's first two runs, and he was back on the mound in the seventh when head athletic trainer Scott Barringer and Brewers manager Craig Counsell came out to visit. After a few more tosses, Gonzalez left the game.

His exit came a day after the team placed Opening Day starter Jhoulys Chacin on the 10-day injured list with a strained right lat, and four days after All-Star starter Brandon Woodruff landed on the IL with a strained left oblique. Chacin is expected to miss two to four weeks and Woodruff six weeks.

Those injuries left the Brewers with only three healthy starters on the roster entering their big weekend series against the Cubs, which began as a pitchers' duel between Gonzalez and Kyle Hendricks.

“With Gio, we’re kind of day to day,” Counsell said. “He really just stiffened up, is what we’ve got right now. We’ll see how he is [Saturday] and the next day. We’re not ruling him out for his next start.”

Gonzalez was making his second start back from a stint on the 10-day IL for shoulder inflammation. He was aided by defensive gems from Lorenzo Cain in the first inning and Eric Thames in the second, plus his own stab of a Javier Baez line drive leading off the second, and didn't allow a Cubs hit until Albert Almora Jr.'s broken-bat infield single leading off the sixth.

David Bote followed with a two-run homer when Gonzalez grooved a fastball in a full count, but Gonzalez navigated the rest of that inning and then had a long rest while the Brewers loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth. When he returned to the mound, he felt some discomfort during a strikeout of Baez leading off the seventh before abruptly exiting.

“It kind of stiffened up, it kind of grabbed a little bit so we all just kind of played it safe by backing off a little bit,” he said.

Asked about his availability for his next scheduled start, probably Wednesday at Oakland, Gonzalez said, “I think I'll be all right. It's been a while since I've seen the seventh inning, so I was just hanging in there.”

“There was nothing there before the inning,” Counsell said. “He was eager to go back out for the seventh. He felt good. That was a long inning. ... We’ll need some time to accurately figure out what’s going on.”

The 6 1/3-innings outing was Gonzalez’s longest since the Brewers acquired him in a trade last August. His nine strikeouts were his most since June 2, 2018, for Washington at Atlanta.

“He pitched a beautiful game,” Counsell said. “He located the ball well, and that’s what resulted in all the strikeouts. Nicely done. Got into the seventh inning and he was really cruising. There was a two-run homer and nothing else happening. A nice performance.”