Column: Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers series — 2 of baseball’s worst offenses battling for 1st place — is emblematic of this topsy-turvy season

The Chicago Cubs returned to the place formerly known as Miller Park on Monday to begin a three-game series against the worst-hitting team in baseball.

Normally a team with a .215 average also would cop to being one of the worst teams in the game.

But in a season in which nothing makes sense, the Milwaukee Brewers entered the day with a three-game lead over the Cubs in the National League Central and with an opportunity to push them closer to selling mode at the trade deadline.

This series might not define the season for either team. Both have been up and down, then down and up. More than half the season remains, and who knows who will still be around when the Cubs return to Milwaukee in mid-September for the stretch run.

But with thousands of road-tripping Cubs fans returning to their dome away from home, and the Brewers’ renamed stadium reopened to 100% capacity, a wave of nostalgia washed over the ballpark before the resumption of the Cubs-Brewers rivalry.

When Javier Báez hit a batting-practice home run nearly into Bernie’s Chalet in the upper deck of left field, Cubs players marveled and the Brewers mascot winced. Summer was back — just in time for more shenanigans.

You might have guessed Wisconsinites were a bit preoccupied with the fate of the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA playoffs and the uncertain future of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers by the rousing reception Cubs center fielder Ian Happ received after his two-run, first-inning home run off Freddy Peralta.

You can change the name of Miller Park, but it always will be Wrigley North to some.

But the Brewers were only too happy for the return of Cubs fans — or more precisely, for the return of their credit cards. The team’s official Twitter account reminded Chicagoans and North Shore residents of the reality of 2021, tweeting before the game: “One of these teams is in 1st. The other team’s the Cubs.”

To recap the story for those who may have napped through April, the Brewers came into the series having won six of the teams’ nine meetings in 2021, all of which took place in the first 21 games, when the Cubs weren’t hitting a lick.

It seems like yesterday that Brewers pitchers were treating Cubs catcher Willson Contreras like a human piñata, and Contreras responded by hitting a game-winning home run, flipping his bat like a flaming baton and shushing the fans as he rounded the bases.

“It feels good to shut them up,” he said afterward.

Contreras was out of the lineup for Monday’s series opener, and the Cubs turned to José Lobatón, the latest in a series of journeyman backup catchers, to try to fill the void with ace Kyle Hendricks on the mound.

With Contreras resting and Anthony Rizzo on the bench with his recurring back issue, manager David Ross penciled in a lineup against Peralta that had only one hitter batting over .244 — Kris Bryant at .265. Six of the eight position players were hitting .235 or lower.

Amazingly, the Brewers also had six position players hitting .237 or lower in their lineup against Hendricks. That’s life in the NL Central, a division full of teams taking the touch-free ballpark experience literally.

Three of the four lowest-hitting teams in the majors entering Monday were the St. Louis Cardinals (27th), Cubs (28th) and Brewers (30th). They’ve been making so little contact in the first half of 2021, the entire division should be banned from national TV for the good of the game. In records dating at least to 1901, the Cubs never had struck out 14 or more times in three consecutive games until last weekend’s series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The oddity is the Cubs were one of the best-hitting teams in May. But they hit the wall in June and have yet to recover. They entered Monday’s game hitting .186 this month, the fourth-lowest average of any team in a calendar month, according to ESPN stats. The only teams below them were the 2014 San Diego Padres (.171 in June), 1972 Texas Rangers (.183 in September) and 2003 Detroit Tigers (.184 in April).

Ross theorized Monday that strong pitching has been a factor, and it’s true the Cubs have played 20 games in June against the top five teams in NL pitching: the New York Mets, Padres, San Francisco Giants, Dodgers and Miami Marlins.

He also noted the absence of injured third baseman Matt Duffy and second baseman Nico Hoerner, a couple of contact hitters who, while not stars, had a residual effect on the rest of the lineup.

“There were a lot of singles being hit (in May),” Ross said. “Right now we’re a little bit more swing-and-miss, a little more (slugging), a little more (hitting) solo homers, right? I think that’s the character of who we have, and the good pitching (combined) with that — we faced a lot of guys that pitch to swing-and-miss.”

In spite of the abysmal hitting, the Cubs were 12-13 in June when they arrived in Milwaukee, giving them hope the offensive roller coaster will go back up soon.

“We’re finding ways to stay in games,” Ross said. “We need to find a way to throw in a two-out knock with a man on second every once in a while. I think that’s the only thing holding us back a little bit from really having a winning month and just staying .500.

“The challenge continues in this series.”

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