It was a sweltering night in Chicago on Wednesday as the Cubs and Brewers met for the third installment in a four-game set at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs took the opener in a record-breaking 17-3 rout on Monday night. The Brewers landed the second blow Tuesday after scoring eight of their nine runs in the final four frames of the 9-4 win.

In Game 3, it could have gone either way. But Milwaukee proved they had the edge, winning 9-5 and increasing their division lead to a seemingly insurmountable nine games.

The good thing for the Cubs is that they didn't lose ground in the Wild Card race after the Philadelphia Phillies' 1-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier in the day. But the Cubs remain a game behind the now-top-seeded Philadelphia with three weeks to go in the regular season.

The Cubs need to stack wins, and now they'll look to the finale on Thursday to try and split the series.

Here is everything we learned from a difficult night at The Friendly Confines:

The Miz-ery

It was always going to be a tall task for the Cubs in facing NL Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski. The flame-throwing right-hander entered his start Wednesday still comfortably the best pitcher in MLB, sporting a 1.73 ERA with a whopping 222 strikeouts in 151 innings pitched.

Misiorowski also had an advantage right out of the gate after the Brewers jumped on Cubs starter David Peterson for two runs in the top of the first.

But Pete Crow-Armstrong's leadoff walk was perhaps a precursor to how the night was going to go for the man they call 'The Miz.'

After Crow-Armstrong worked a six-pitch free pass, Alex Bregman tied the game on a 2-2 slider that left his bat at 105.5 mph.

Things started to unravel for Misiorowski the following inning after Matt Shaw smoked a one-out triple off the center field ivy. Tyrone Taylor tied the game at 3 with an RBI single.

Misiorowski later issued back-to-back two-out walks to Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki, and the Cubs made him pay for loading the bases as Bregman grabbed two more RBI on a single to center.

That meant Misiorowski had five earned runs tagged to his line, which is a career high for the 24-year-old. It raised his ERA to 1.97 — the horror!

But in all seriousness, the Cubs had the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the ace's off night, and they just couldn't put the pieces together to do so.

Another Scare for Cubs Pitching

It was an all-too-familiar sight in the ninth inning, and one that has plagued the Cubs all season.

Jacob Webb entered the game with the Cubs trailing 7-5 and a chance to keep the Cubs' walk-off chances in play.

The third hitter to face Webb in the inning was Christian Yelich, who tattooed a 102.5-mph line drive off of Webb's throwing arm. Webb could be seen exclaiming in pain as he picked up the ball and tried to fire it to first. The throw soared over Michael Busch's head, putting runners on second and third with one away for the Brewers.

Webb, clearly in a lot of pain, was swiftly removed from the game. Craig Counsell could be seen on camera pacing in the dugout as he awaited a verdict on his reliever.

As he paced, Colin Rea entered the game and allowed two more runs as the Brewers stretched their lead to four.

The good news: Counsell confirmed to reporters after the game that x-rays on Webb's forearm were negative, though the right-hander was in a great deal of pain.

The other news: It's unclear what Webb's true status is, even if he didn't break a bone. And for him to miss any time would be another painful blow to a Cubs' pitching staff that seems to be a revolving door.

Webb has undoubtedly been a bright spot, with his 3.15 ERA in 60 innings of work. That line doesn't even tell the whole story of a man who posted 24.2 consecutive scoreless innings this summer.

The Hottest Man in Chicago

At least the Cubs have Alex Bregman.

The Cubs named Bregman their August Player of the Month on Wednesday, and it was a very well-deserved honor.

After a difficult first half of the season filled with a whole lot of frustration, Bregman has finally become what Cubs fans believed he would when he signed his five-year, $177 million deal last December.

He crushed 12 home runs in August, six of which came from two separate three-homer games. His .296 batting average over the month raised his season number from .248 on July 31 to .258 on August 31.

And on Wednesday, Bregman showed no signs of slowing down with another home run and four more RBI.

Bregman can't do it all himself, though, and despite his best efforts to carry the team, they went to waste as the game further unraveled into the night.

Still, it bodes very well for the future that Bregman looks like himself and is doing exactly what was advertised of him.

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