Villar’s HRs, Broxton’s theft lift Crew over Cubs

MILWAUKEE — The Cubs’ magic number dropped to single digits, but it wasn’t because of what they did on the field on Wednesday night. Jonathan Villar hit a pair of home runs, including a tiebreaking blast in the eighth, to lift the Brewers to a 2-1 victory over the Cubs at Miller Park and take the series.

The Cubs’ magic number to clinch the National League Central is now nine after the Cardinals lost to the Pirates on Wednesday.

With the game tied at 1 in the eighth, Villar launched the first pitch from reliever Joe Smith to straightaway center, powering the Brewers to their sixth win in their last seven games.

Both starting pitchers were stingy, and each served up a solo homer. Villar smacked a leadoff home run in the fourth off Mike Montgomery but Anthony Rizzo tied the game against Matt Garza with a solo blast with two outs in the sixth, his 29th homer of the season. Rizzo was supposed to get Wednesday off, but manager Joe Maddon changed his mind after the first baseman hit two home runs on Tuesday.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Game-saver: Brewers closer Tyler Thornburg logged the save with a 1-2-3 ninth thanks in part to the Brewers’ defensive play of the year. Rookie center fielder Keon Broxton, who has surged at the plate since returning from a demotion to Triple-A, made a leaping catch in right-center field to rob Rizzo of what appeared to be a tying home run. …

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