Brewers youth movement slams Cubs 7-0

MILWAUKEE -- Most of Ron Roenicke's afternoon was spent in organizational meetings, discussing the numerous young players making up the Milwaukee Brewers' roster and their places within the organization moving forward.

Roenicke and Co. may want to reconvene again Thursday.

The Brewers' youth movement took center stage Wednesday, riding home runs by Sean Halton and Khris Davis and six scoreless innings from right-hander Tyler Thornburg to beat the Cubs, 7-0, at Miller Park.

"It's certainly bright when you see this happening," Roenicke said.

Thornburg has been a breath of fresh air for the Brewers, whose plan to rely on a crop of young arms fell apart early in the year. After going 0-9 with a 5.79 ERA at Triple-A Nashville, he turned the corner in Milwaukee, going 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA in 16 appearances.

As a starter, Thornburg has been even better, holding opponents to five earned runs over 37 innings.

"He has been good in relief, he's been really good as a starter," Roenicke said. "It's hard to explain. I know it's an excuse but I heard he had the worst luck you could have at Triple-A but I wasn't there. He's confident, he still gets a little wild at times and then comes back and makes great pitches."

Wednesday, the young right-hander allowed only two hits and two walks while striking out four.

"I think just mentally when you realize how much something matters up here," Thornburg said when asked the difference between the majors and minors. "I think I was a little upset being in Triple-A.

"Honestly, I was kicking myself a little bit too much. I was doing things that I necessarily wouldn't do normally, as far as trying to throw different pitches and trying to develop a couple of pitches. It just got me into trouble. Then up here I've stuck with my three good pitches and really trying to improve upon those."

He was able to settle into a rhythm thanks in large part to Halton's blast, which provided an early cushion.

Jean Segura's one-out walk kicked off Milwaukee's first inning. After Lucroy singled, Aramis Ramirez drove in the Segura to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

Davis drew a two-out walk and Halton worked the count full before taking Cubs starter Chris Rusin to left center for his first career grand slam -- which came just days after he hit his first career walk-off home run in the Brewers 6-5 victory over the Reds Sunday.

"We've been playing well," Halton said. "The veterans have been playing hard. The young guys have been trying to add on."

Davis led off the Brewers' fourth with a solo home run to left, his 10th of the season. An RBI double by Carlos Gomez put the Brewers up 7-0 in the fifth.

Rusin (2-5) worked just four innings, allowing six runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

"He got the ball up a couple times in bad situations, but I think the walks were the biggest thing that happened," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "That first inning, he had a chance of getting out of there and walked a guy and then Halton gets a 3-2 pitch up in his eyes and hits it out of the ballpark."

In his last seven starts, Rusin is 0-4 with 17 earned runs in 25 innings of work and has failed to work past the fifth in three of his last four outings.

"Those are the games you've just got to learn from," Rusin said. "Just keep the ball down is what I keep telling myself. But that first inning really hurt the team. Just took the life out of us. As a starting pitcher, you don't want to do that to a club."

Brewers prospect Jimmy Nelson worked two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit -- a double by Ryan Sweeney -- with two walks and two strikeouts.

Sweeney was the only Cubs player with more than one hit as he finished the day 2-for-3.

The Brewers have won four in a row and six of their last seven while the Cubs have dropped five in a row and seven of their last eight.

NOTES: Suspended Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun was in Milwaukee Wednesday and visited his teammates before the game at Miller Park. Braun's visit was brief and he left the stadium before clubhouses opened to the media. Braun was handed a 65-game suspension on July 23 for using performance-enhancing drugs. ... Cubs manager Dale Sveum said he wasn't worried after general manager Theo Epstein didn't give a definitive answer Tuesday that Sveum would be back in 2014. "I've been around the game long enough to understand how the whole process works," Sveum said. ... Segura left the game after straining his right hamstring when he scored from second on Ramirez's first-inning single. ... Cubs third baseman Donnie Murphy was not in the lineup Wednesday and is considered day-to-day with a sore left wrist.