Oh no, shoddy fielding Cubs’ downfall against Brewers
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — Jonathan Lucroy homered, Hiram Burgos pitched five innings in his major league debut and the Milwaukee Brewers took advantage of shoddy fielding by the Chicago Cubs in a 5-1 win Saturday night.
Burgos held the Cubs to one run and five hits with a strikeout and no walks to help the Brewers win their sixth straight game.
The Brewers scored first when Lucroy hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot to left center field in the second inning off Cubs starter Edwin Jackson (0-3). Jackson lost to the Brewers for the second time this season.
Burgos faced the minimum number of batters through the first three innings and the only run he allowed was on Alfonso Soriano’s single in the fourth.
Three Brewers relievers combined to hold the Cubs scoreless over the final four innings.
Jackson, who lowered his ERA to 4.84 from over 6, held the Brewers to two hits through four innings. Two Cubs’ errors in the fifth led to a pair of unearned runs, giving the Brewers a 3-1 lead.
The Brewers extended the lead to 5-1 with two more unearned runs in the sixth. Ryan Braun singled. After Rickie Weeks struck out, Lucroy hit a bouncer back to the mound that Jackson cleanly fielded but his throw to second base sailed into center field, allowing Braun to advance to third.
Braun scored on a sacrifice bunt by Logan Schafer. A single by Martin Maldonado drove in Lucroy.
Jackson pitched six innings, giving up four hits and five runs, only one of them earned, with one walk on four strike outs.
Notes: With the win, the Brewers joined the 1977 Yankees as the only teams ever to start 2-8 and climb to .500 by winning their next six games. The Yankees won the World Series that season. . The Brewers have won 17 of their last 19 games against the Cubs at Miller Park, including the last seven. . Cubs SS Starlin Castro extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest active streak in the majors, with a bloop single to right field in the fourth inning. . The Cubs were 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and are now 17-for-115 — .148 — this season.