An unexpected I-94 rivalry may be brewing between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs this season.
The first-place Brewers were down in Chicago this weekend for a big NL Central division series with the Cubs. After playing a game Friday in rainy, windy, and cold conditions; the Saturday game was postponed due to more rain in the forecast.
However, the rain stopped shortly after the 11:30 a.m. postponement decision, and by the late afternoon, the sun was even peeking out over Wrigley Field.
Brewers general manager David Stearns was clearly unhappy with the decision that came from the Cubs:
Stearns' beef comes down to calling the game so early. By scheduled start time, rain had stopped and teams could have played.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) May 21, 2017
Manager Craig Counsell was similarly displeased:
#Brewers manager Craig Counsell on Cubs postponing game Saturday:"First time our players were treated for sunburn after rainout."
— Tom (@Haudricourt) May 21, 2017
The Brewers did not come out and specifically accuse the Cubs organization of any wrongdoing, but there is certainly some animosity building. At an event Monday, Today's TMJ4 caught up with Eric Thames, Cory Knebel and Oliver Drake to get their takes on the circumstances behind the delay.
Thames said "we were hanging out walking around shopping and saying 'it's not even raining now, we could have played.'" Knebel commented " that was strange, take 'em when we can get them, I guess". Oliver Drake said "we will play whenever, if they say conditions are good enough to play we will play".
Earlier in the season, Cubs players John Lackey and Kyle Schwarber insinuated performance enhancing drugs were behind the hot start by Milwaukee first baseman Eric Thames.
The Cubs ended up beating the Brewers 13-6 on Sunday afternoon. Milwaukee (25-19) owns a 1.5 game lead in the NL Central, and is two games up on Chicago (22-20).
The rained-out game has been scheduled for July 6 at 1:20 p.m.
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