MILWAUKEE — MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Chicago Cubs’ hitters aren’t putting enough balls in play, and their pitchers aren’t keeping balls in play.That combination has the Cubs heading back home on the brink of elimination.Chicago gave up three homers and mustered just one hit after the second inning of a 7-3 loss at Milwaukee on Monday night that gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five NL Division Series.The Cubs must win two straight in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday to send the series back to Milwaukee for a deciding Game 5 on Saturday. Teams falling behind 2-0 in a best-of-five postseason series have won just 10 of 90 times.“It’s simple,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve got to just win pitches. We’ve got to win moments. You’ve got to stay with your process and your routines. It’s simple as that. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but it’s done by winning one pitch at a time and succeeding one pitch at a time.”They haven’t won nearly enough pitches thus far.The Cubs have struck out 23 times in this series — 12 in a 9-3 loss in Game 1 on Saturday and 11 more on Monday. Meanwhile, Chicago allowed nine runs in the first three innings Saturday and gave up seven runs in the first four frames Monday.“It’s not a surprise that they’re going out there and throwing their best arms and all their guys seem to be locked in,” said Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Monday. “It’s our job to execute. I know I haven’t done that. It’s a pretty simple idea here. If you put more balls in play, you’ll probably score more.”Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer off Aaron Ashby to put the Cubs ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning Monday, but Shota Imanaga allowed a three-run homer to Andrew Vaughn in the bottom half. Chicago never led again.Imanaga also allowed a solo shot to William Contreras in the third, marking the sixth time …
