Brewers 5, Cubs 1
MILWAUKEE -- Edwin Jackson scattered four hits over six innings but the Chicago Cubs committed three errors, leading to four runs, in a 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers Saturday at Miller Park.
Jackson's only earned run came on Jonathan Lucroy's second-inning home run -- his third of the season. Jackson had retired the first four Brewers batters in order to that point and, after the home run, retired eight of the next nine before a pair of fifth-inning fielding errors turned a tie game into a 3-1 Milwaukee lead.
In the seventh, Jackson himself added to the Cubs' fielding troubles when he threw the ball into center field while trying to catch Ryan Braun at second on Logan Schafer's sacrifice attempt, which might have been a double play without the error.
The extra outs helped Milwaukee generate enough offense for right-hander Hiram Burgos, who earned the victory in his major-league debut. Burgos faced the minimum through three innings before scuffling slightly in the fourth, and he made it through five innings, holding the Cubs to a run on five hits with a strikeout.
The Brewers bullpen held Chicago scoreless over the final four innings, allowing just two hits -- Dave Sappelt's pinch-hit double in the eighth and Anthony Rizzo's single in the ninth -- to wrap up Milwaukee's sixth consecutive victory.
Milwaukee scored first on a second-inning home run by Lucroy -- his third of the season. The Cubs tied the game in the fourth on Alfonso Soriano's single to center, but after Nate Schierholtz's double put runners at second and third, Dioner Navarro flew out to center, ending the inning.
Still tied with two on in bottom of the fifth, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke opted to pinch hit Blake Lalli for Burgos. The move paid off as Schafer scored on Lalli's groundout. Another run scored when Nori Aoki reached on an error by shortstop Starlin Castro before Jackson got out of the inning down 3-1
NOTES: Lucroy's home run extended his hitting streak to five games. ... Castro singled in the fourth, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. ... Brewers relievers are 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA and three saves in the last seven games. ... Castro has appeared in 212 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the National League and second only to Prince Fielder in Major League Baseball. ... Milwaukee is hitting .500 (11-for-22) with runners in scoring position over the last four games after hitting just .209 with runners in scoring position through the first 11 games of the season. ... Thirteen of the Cubs' 15 games this season have been decided by three runs or fewer. ... Entering play Saturday, the 36 walks allowed by Brewers pitchers are the fewest of any team in baseball. ... Chicago has lost six in a row at Miller Park and 16 of the last 18.
