ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando spends each Sunday with ES

MILWAUKEE -- Zach Davies pitched well enough to win. But beating the Chicago Cubs these days isnt so easy.The right-hander matched Cy Young candidate Kyle Hendricks for six innings, yet was done in by a few well-placed hits Monday in the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 loss to the Cubs.Davies (10-7) recorded the first two outs of the seventh inning before the Cubs scored two runs on three consecutive hits to take a 3-1 lead. He exited having allowed two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings.Every run they scored, even the base hits he gave up, that was soft contact, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. Some jam shots. If anything, they get rewarded for contact today. It wasnt hard contact, it was just contact and they got rewarded for that. He pitched great.The Cubs had just two hits off Davies through five innings -- singles by Miguel Montero in the third and Javier Baez in the fifth.Davies issued a leadoff walk to Tommy La Stella in the sixth but came back to strike out Kris Bryant. Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia then slipped and fell on a ground ball hit by Anthony Rizzo, which led to Milwaukee getting just one out on what could have been a double play.Jorge Soler followed with a broken-bat single to tie the game.Its a great lineup, but through six innings, it was nice to keep them off balance and keep them in check, Davies said. But they found some holes, and they capitalized on that.It was 1-all in the seventh when Davies retired the first two batters. Montero then doubled and scored on the single by pinch hitter Chris Coghlan, who took second on the throw.La Stella followed with an infield single that second baseman Scooter Gennett misplayed into the outfield, allowing Coghlan to score.With Davies out of the game, the Cubs scored four runs off reliever Ben Rowen in the eighth to break the game open.I thought Davies threw well, Coghlan said. The whole time we just kept saying, stick with it, well get to him, he cant keep tricking us and getting us out. And we were able to do that.The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the second on Chris Carters 33rd home run of the season.That was all Milwaukee could muster against Hendricks, who lowered his major league-leading ERA to 2.07 by allowing just one run over six innings.He pitched like hes been pitching all year, Counsell said of Hendricks We gave ourselves some two-out opportunities but no big opportunities. Thats what you kind of expect, limited opportunities. I thought it was a day that wed have to get a two-out hit to win that game and we didnt get one early enough today.Ryan Braun connected for his 25th home run in the ninth.TRADE COMPLETEThe Brewers acquired minor league outfielder Ryan Cordell from Texas on Sunday as the player to be named in the trade that sent Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress to the Rangers on Aug. 1.TRAINERS ROOMCubs: RHP Hector Rondon is expected to be activated from the disabled list Tuesday, according to Maddon. Rondon has been out since Aug. 17 with a right triceps strain.Brewers: SS Jonathan Villar returned to the lineup Sunday after not starting Milwaukees past two games with a sore left knee.UP NEXTCubs: RHP Jason Hammel (14-7, 3.14 ERA) will start the second game of the series in Milwaukee. He is 10-1 with a 2.50 ERA in 14 career starts against the Brewers.Brewers: RHP Wily Peralta (5-9, 5.53) will make his 19th start of the season Tuesday. He is coming off his best outing of the year in which he allowed one run and struck out 10 on Aug. 30 against St. Louis. David Wright Jersey . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Neil Walker Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. http://www.metsrookiestore.com/Mets-Wilmer-Flores-Kids-Jersey/ . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Keith Hernandez Jersey .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Noah Syndergaard Jersey .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando spends each Sunday with ESPN NFL analyst Jon Gruden and the Monday Night Football crew. This week, theyre in Chicago, for the Minnesota Vikings-Chicago Bears matchup (ESPN, 8:30 p.m. ET). Here are some takeaways from Gruden on the game.CHICAGO -- The Vikings look vulnerable despite taking an NFC North-leading 5-1 record into their Monday Night Football visit to Soldier Field. Other contending teams around the conference will be watching to see if the Bears can keep Minnesota on the ropes following the Vikings rough outing -- and their first loss of 2016 -- at Philadelphia last week.The Bears have no shortage of their own issues,, of course, but the five-point formula for beating the Vikings is worth our attention regardless.dddddddddddd1. Overwhelm the Vikings offensive lineVikings coach Mike Zimmer used the word soft to describe his offensive line following the debacle at Philly. That was really harsh. The individual players on this line are not soft, but they have undoubtedly been vulnerable. The Eagles overwhelmed the Vikings with perimeter blitzes. They got home with free safety blitzes, strong safety blitzes, nickel corner blitzes -- you name it. ' ' '