Jackson, Cubs weather storm
CHICAGO -- Cubs right-hander Edwin Jackson found plenty to keep himself occupied during a 66-minute rain delay Wednesday.
"Listen to music, ride the bike and sit and wait and hope it didn't go past 10 (p.m.) because I would have been done," he said. "You try to stay loose any way you can."
Fortunately for Jackson, he had no problem picking up right where he left off.
Back on the mound at around 10 p.m. with two outs in the top of the sixth, Jackson completed a strong eight-inning outing as the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 to salvage the finale of a four-game series.
Jackson (7-11) finished July with a 3-1 record, and he's 6-3 in 10 starts since June 9.
Anthony Rizzo went 2-for-4 with a double and a two-run home run, Starlin Castro was 2-for-4 with a solo homer, and David DeJesus finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Chicago scored two runs apiece in the third, fourth and sixth innings.
The game was delayed in the sixth as rain and lightning swept in from the north/northwest.
The victory snapped a three-game Cubs losing streak and gave Chicago a
14-13 July record, its first winning month since going 15-10 in July 2012.
Jackson allowed eight hits, struck out four and didn't walk a batter.
"He's not walking anybody," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "And at the beginning of the year every ground ball seemed to find a hole. Now they're going at people.
"He obviously did a great job all night. It was a shame that he didn't have a chance to get the shutout."
The Brewers ruined that possibility in the eighth, when Jonathan Lucroy's two-out double down the first base line brought home Rickie Weeks.
Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta (7-11) did not return after the rain delay. He worked five innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
"When you throw that many pitches (87), I don't want to bring him back out there," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "He was better than last time. (But) he threw some pitches in some counts where I didn't particularly like the pitch ... He wasn't bad, but the mistakes that he made ended up hurting him."
Right-hander Alfredo Figaro entered in relief and was greeted with a Welington Castillo single and Cody Ransom's double to right. DeJesus drove both home with a one-out base hit to right to increase Chicago's lead to 6-0.
Rizzo's 15th home run of the season gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the third. Rizzo launched Peralta's 3-1 pitch an estimated 398 feet to right-center.
The Brewers nearly got one run back in the fourth when Lucroy led off with a double down the third base line. Caleb Gindl singled, and the ball was bobbled by Cubs left fielder Julio Borbon. However, Borbon recovered in time to fire to catcher Castillo, who tagged Lucroy out at the plate.
The Cubs' fifth-inning rally included Castro's one-out solo home run. His seventh homer of the season was his first since July 12 against St. Louis.
Chicago added another run when Ransom scored from third as DeJesus lined a single off Peralta's leg.
"We got on the board early and added on and added on again," Sveum said. "It was huge tonight to give everybody in the bullpen a night off and be at full strength going into the (upcoming) Dodgers series."
The only Chicago reliever to see action was Blake Parker, who threw a scoreless ninth inning.
NOTES: The Brewers placed RHP Yovani Gallardo on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. He pitched 4 2/3 innings in Game 1 of Tuesday's day-night doubleheader at Wrigley Field. ... Milwaukee optioned INF Scooter Gennett to Triple-A Nashville, then recalled him to take Gallardo's spot on the 25-man roster. ... Milwaukee is the only team this season with a perfect record (38-0) when leading after eight innings. ... LF Junior Lake began his Cubs career with a seven-game hitting streak, the first Chicago player to start like that since Jerome Walton in 1989. Lake had 15 hits through his first seven games, the most of hits any Cubs player through his first seven big league games since at least 1916, according to unofficial Cubs historian Ed Hartig. However, in his next seven games, including a popout as a pinch hitter Wednesday, Lake is 3-for-27 (.111).
