Edmonds hits slam; Cubs finish sweep of Brewers
MILWAUKEE - Statement series? This was no statement series.
This was a shout-it-from-the mountain, put-an-exclamation-point-on-it series for the Cubs.
Before a pro-Chicago crowd of 45,346 Thursday at Miller Park, the Cubs knocked the Milwaukee Brewers loopy with an 11-4 haymaker, sweeping this four-game series and sending the Brew Crew to 5 games behind them in the National League Central.
"It's July 31 today," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose team improved to a season-best 21 games over .500 at 65-44. "We've got baseball to be played in August, in September. But certainly, coming in here and beating a good opponent in their own ballpark four times is something to feel good about.
"Oh, I don't know about statements. We came in here knowing that Milwaukee was playing solid baseball. We came in here with a purpose in mind, to win some baseball games, and that's exactly what we did."
Although the Cubs didn't make a trade before Thursday's nonwaiver deadline, they won with two players who weren't here at the start of the season.
Pitcher Rich Harden, picked up in early July in a trade with Oakland, won his first game as a Cub after 3 tough-luck starts.
Center fielder Jim Edmonds (a May pickup) hit a pair of home runs, a solo shot in the third to open the scoring and a grand slam in the fourth off Brewers starting pitcher Dave Bush to pretty much settle things.
Edmonds had been hobbled by a sore left knee, but he made his first start of this series a big one.
"I wasn't a hero; I just got it started," said Edmonds, who hit his 12th and 13th homers of the season and his seventh career grand slam. "Nice to win. It's a nice series, and we played well. Nice to play. It was nice for everybody.
"I just had one of those days. That's the way I look at it."
Harden took a 1.04 ERA as a Cub into the game, despite an 0-1 record. He gave up a hit in each of the first 4 innings. Harden allowed his only run when Prince Fielder homered leading off the seventh. He worked out of minor trouble later that inning before recording his ninth strikeout by getting Jason Kendall and leaving for the day.
"You know the guys are going to hit," Harden said. "It wasn't really a concern of mine. I never really get too caught up in personal win-and-loss record. With the lineup we've got, we're going to win games. You're going to have your games, yeah, where you're in a slump. These guys aren't going to (not) hit for long."
Bush worked a quick first 2 innings before Edmonds drove a ball into the right-field stands to open the third.
In the fourth, Bush got two outs before Aramis Ramirez walked and Kosuke Fukudome doubled. Then Bush hit Mark DeRosa with an 0-2 pitch, setting the stage for Edmonds' slam.
"The pitch that hurt was the 0-2 pitch to DeRosa that hit him in the shoulder," said Brewers manager Ned Yost. "He's the guy he's got to get out in that situation and not even get into a situation where he faces Edmonds."
In the ninth, Edmonds was walked on a pitch thrown behind him from reliever Eric Gagne, prompting Gagne's ejection. About his earlier exploits, Edmonds played it modestly.
"I was just trying not to do too much," he said. "The first home run, I think, was a 3-1 pitch and just got it down and in, and I was just trying to put the ball in play and just hit the barrel.
"The next one, I was just trying to stay through the ball and not trying to cheat. It's one of those days. It doesn't happen very often, and I got lucky."
The Cubs outscored the Brewers 31-11 over the four games, during one of those stretches in which the pitching and the hitting came together at once.
"It really was a nice series," Piniella said. "We really pitched well in this series. And the bats were consistent throughout."
Cubs 11, Brewers 4
At the plate: Jim Edmonds homered leading off the third and hit a grand slam in the fourth. The 5 RBI tied a career high. Kosuke Fukudome hit a 2-run homer in the eighth, and Alfonso Soriano hit a solo shot, also in the eighth. The Cubs outscored the Brewers 31-11 in the four-game sweep.
On the mound: Rich Harden picked up his first win as a Cub, working 7 innings and giving up 6 hits and 1 run. He is 1-1 with a 1.11 ERA as a Cub.
Scouting report
Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field
TV: Comcast SportsNet today and Saturday; Channel 9 Sunday
Radio: WGN 720-AM
Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Jason Marquis (6-6) vs. Jeff Karstens (2008 debut) today at 1:20 p.m.; Ted Lilly (10-6) vs. Paul Maholm (7-6) Saturday at 12:05 p.m.; Carlos Zambrano (12-4) vs. Ian Snell (4-8) Sunday at 1:20 p.m.
At a glance: The Cubs have to be glad to see the Pirates again. Against Pittsburgh, the Cubs are 9-3, including 5-1 at Wrigley, where the Cubs have rolled up a couple of double-digit scoring games. Marquis is 7-5 against the Bucs lifetime and 2-0 this year. The Cubs' Alfonso Soriano is 6-for-12 with 3 homers vs. Snell. Soriano also has 3 homers off Maholm. The Pirates entered Thursday last in the NL in ERA, at 5.25. This begins a nine-game homestand for the Cubs.
Next: Houston Astros at Wrigley Field, Monday-Wednesday
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