Cubs go down swinging against Brewers

MILWAUKEE - Brewers pitcher Wily Peralta made it look as easy as 1, 2, 3 Saturday night against the Cubs.

That would be as easy as 1, 2, 3 strikes and you're out.

Cubs batters struck out 13 times over seven innings against Peralta (17-11) and 16 in the game as they got little going in a 2-1 loss at Miller Park.

The Brewers evened the series at one game each and assured themselves a winning season with their 82nd victory. The Cubs must win Sunday's season finale to avoid 90 losses.

"Peralta was really good today," said Cubs manager Rick Renteria, whose team is 72-89. "I can see, as everybody is talking about, how he's chalked up all those victories. His fastball was explosive. His secondary pitches had some bite. He used them to get out of some innings. He had good stuff."

The Cubs lead the National League in strikeouts, and Saturday marked the sixth time this season they fanned 16 or more times.

"We've gathered enough information with the time that we've had with these young men to know that we're going to attack a lot of different aspects of the offensive game," Renteria said.

Cubs starting pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada (4-4) worked 5 innings, giving up 8 hits and 2 runs. Edwin Jackson, who has struggled as a starter in his two seasons with the Cubs, came out of the bullpen and worked a scoreless seventh, walking one.

"It's going to be a busy off-season," Jackson said. "I'm going to work on what I need to work on and definitely come in ready to bounce back and be the pitcher I know I can be and get back in form to where I was before I joined the Cubs."

Hendricks OK with it:

Kyle Hendricks was supposed to start Sunday's season finale, but the Cubs decided to shut him down. Hendricks came up from Class AAA Iowa on July 10 and went 7-2 with a 2.46 ERA in his first 13 big-league starts.

He said he was not disappointed in the decision.

"It was for good reasons," he said. "I know I'm already 20 innings over what I was last year. We talked about it together. There was really no reason to go out for 5 more innings for the last game."

Hendricks no doubt has pitched himself into the rotation for next year.

Rockies claim Rusin:

The Colorado Rockies claimed left-handed pitcher Chris Rusin off waivers from the Cubs. Rusin spent most of this year at Class AAA Iowa; he made 4 appearances for the Cubs. In parts of three seasons, he was 4-9 with a 4.97 ERA in 24 games, 20 starts.

It's the first of what figures to be several moves by the Cubs to clear space on their 40-man roster.