CHICAGO — Willson Contreras had three hits and stole a base in his first game against younger brother William and helped the Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3 on Saturday.
Chicago won a day after ending its 10-game losing streak and also halting the Braves’ 14-game winning streak.
The Contreras brothers both started at the catcher, which was the first time they shared a field. They hugged before 30-year-old Willson, a two-time All-Star, was singled in the first inning. Contreras then stole second base against his brother and scored on Jonathan Villar’s two-run single.
Willson Contreras later doubled and drove in one run. His 24-year-old brother had two hits for the Braves.
William Contreras played a single in the next inning but was knocked out second due to an unusual double play. Duvall hit a flyball too shallow to the right that fell between three fielders – Contreras was pushed out in second and Duvall, who had returned to the dugout before being shoved to base by first base coach Eric Young Sr., was called out .
Justin Steele (2-5) picked up his first win since his season debut on April 9 against Milwaukee. He allowed two carries and five hits in five innings.
Kyle Wright (7-4) gave up five runs and a career-high 11 hits in six innings.
Rafael Ortega Homered and Alfonso Rivas and Andrelton Simmons each had two hits for the Cubs.
Adam Duvall, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II had two hits for the Braves. Atlanta hasn’t lost a season series to the Cubs since 2017 and needs to win on Sunday to part ways this year.
The Cubs extended their lead to 3-0 after Acuña made a throwing error on Willson Contreras’ single to right field in the second game. They made it 4-0 on Jason Heyward’s double, which bounced off Duvall down the left in the third.
Duvall hit a homer in the fifth. The Braves lead the NL in home runs but have only one game out of two against Chicago.
Austin Riley’s base-loaded sacrifice fly drew Atlanta to 4-2 in the fifth. Heyward made a sliding catch on Marcell Ozuna’s flyball to the right for the third out.
TRANSACTIONS
Braves: RHP Jacob Webb went straight to Triple-A Gwinnett after being designated for deployment on Thursday.
Cubs: OF Clint Frazier accepted a stint at Triple-A Iowa after being drafted for a June 10 assignment.
TRAINING ROOM
Boys: INF Frank Schwindel (Low Back Strain) came on 10-day injured list. He went out in the second inning on Friday after running to the first with a groundout. Dizziness had a similar injury during spring training that required three days off, manager David Ross said. INF Alfonso Rivas recalled from Iowa to replace Dizziness. … 2B David Bote (left shoulder surgery) resumed his rehab assignment with Iowa which was on hold due to dizziness.
NEXT
RHP Ian Anderson (5-3, 4.81 ERA) will face Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-5, 4.95) in Sunday’s series finals for the Braves.
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