CHICAGO _ Nicholas Castellanos hit a pair of home runs, drove in four runs and went viral Friday in the Cubs' 7-1 win over the Brewers before 40,276 at Wrigley Field.
Castellanos' power and a solid start by Jose Quintana paced the Cubs to their fourth straight win, leaving them one game behind the Cardinals in the National League Central pending St. Louis' game with the Reds Friday night.
The Cubs outfielder started his day with a two-run home run off Chase Anderson in the first inning, following Ian Happ's leadoff double. After back-to-back doubles by David Bote and Quintana _ the first extra-base hit in Quintana's career _ made it 3-0 in the third, Castellanos launched his second homer into the left-field bleachers. To celebrate his multi-homer game, Castellanos held the bat high with both hands and slammed it down to the ground in a novel twist on the traditional bat flip.
Quintana held the Brewers scoreless on four hits through 5 2/3 innings before being removed after reaching 104 pitches. He improved to 12-8 on the season and 7-4 in his last 14 starts against the Brewers in a Cubs uniform.
The Cubs added another run in the seventh on Victor Caratini's RBI single. After the Brewers snapped the shutout in the eighth, Kyle Schwarber launched his 32nd home run in the bottom of the inning to give the Cubs a 7-1 lead.
The series resumes Saturday with Cole Hamels facing Zach Davies in a 1:20 p.m. start at Wrigley.
