'Electric' Brothers earns 1st save since '13

CHICAGO -- When Cubs lefty Rex Brothers induced a game-ending flyout off the bat of Pittsburgh's Bryan Reynolds on Friday afternoon, it ended a long drought for the veteran reliever.

The save Brothers collected was his first in the Majors in seven years and 220 days, dating back to Sept. 29, 2013, when he pitched for the Rockies. Closer Craig Kimbrel was unavailable, but it still showed the trust Brothers has earned.

"No thought about the timeframe and how long it had been," Brothers said. "Really, I just wanted to get that done and get that fourth [win] in a row there."

Brothers did just that for the Cubs, but the path the 33-year-old lefty took to that moment was a long, several-year process full of twists and turns, setbacks, injuries and mechanical changes. It has culminated in Brothers becoming one of manager David Ross' go-to arms in key situations.

"His stuff has always played," Ross said. "One of our most consistent relievers. Getting him in the zone was priority No. 1, because the stuff hasn't gone anywhere. His stuff has been electric for a while."

Brothers had an 8.10 ERA in three outings for Chicago in 2020 and did not pitch in the big leagues in two of the past five years (2016 and ‘19). He only appeared in one game in ‘18. This season, he carried a 3.00 ERA with 21 strikeouts against five walks in 12 innings into Saturday's game.

Brothers has a 9.8 percent walk rate this season, compared to 14.9 percent across 2015-20. Per Statcast, the lefty is in the 98th percentile right now for whiff rate and 97th percentile for strikeout rate (41.2 percent).

"Just using the ground better, is as simple as I could put it," Brothers said of his delivery adjustments. "I think I got into some bad habits and bad patterns when my health wasn't where I needed it to be. And it's just kind of taken a while to iron those things out. And then trusting the work that I put in."

Cubs name Honorary Bat Girl
As has become a Mother's Day tradition around Major League Baseball, the Cubs selected Denise Wehrenberg to represent the team as one of the 30 Honorary Bat Girls for Sunday's celebration.

Wehrenberg has served as a mammographer since 1984 and is a lifelong Cubs fan.

"Shortly after graduating X-ray school," Wehrenberg said in MLB's release, "my mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Seeing her struggle through radiation and chemotherapy broke my heart. She lost her battle to breast cancer and that is when I wanted to devote my life to helping other women by doing mammography.

"I think of her every day and treat my patients with the same care."

Players around baseball will use pink bats and sport pink gear on Sunday in support of the "Going To Bat Against Breast Cancer" cause.

Worth noting
? Kris Bryant was back in center field for Saturday's game against the Pirates. Entering the day, Bryant had logged 128 1/3 innings in the outfield (69 in left, 41 in right and 18 1/3 in center) this year, compared to 121 2/3 innings at third base and 12 innings at first.

"I think his versatility," Ross said Friday, "lends to even more talks of MVP if he continues to put up the numbers he's putting up."

? Right-handers Jake Arrieta (10-day injured list, right thumb) and Dan Winkler (10-day IL, right triceps) both played catch prior to Saturday's game. Ross noted that Arrieta was also scheduled to throw a bullpen session.

? Ross reiterated Saturday that Kimbrel was not injured, but simply unavailable in Friday's game. The manager noted that Kimbrel had worked in four of Chicago's previous five games.

? Second baseman Nico Hoerner (10-day IL, left forearm) went through some infield drills prior to Saturday's game.

Did you know?
Saturday marked the 150th anniversary of the Cubs' first game in a professional league. On May 8, 1871, the Cubs (known as the White Stockings at the time) hosted and defeated the Cleveland Forest City, 14-12, in front of around 5,000 fans in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. Per historian Ed Hartig, the game was held at Lake Park (one of multiple names used for the field), which stood within what is now Millenium Park in downtown Chicago.