Gallardo pitches Brewers past Cubs 3-1
Yovani Gallardo pitched seven sparkling innings and Khris Davis had a tiebreaking RBI double, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.
Gallardo bounced back nicely from a sluggish outing against San Francisco, allowing one run and six hits while improving to 9-3 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 career starts against Chicago.
Mark Reynolds connected for his 20th homer as Milwaukee opened a seven-game trip with its fourth victory in five games.
Coming off his worst start of the year, Jake Arrieta gave up two runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings for the Cubs. The right-hander was hit hard in a loss at Colorado on Wednesday, allowing season highs of nine runs and 13 hits in five-plus innings.
Arrieta (6-4) retired 13 in a row before Ryan Braun started the seventh with a single to center.
Braun was cut down at the plate when he tried to score from second on Scooter Gennett's one-out double, but Davis followed with a liner into the left-field corner to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.
Gennett also had a two-out RBI single in the ninth for his 30th multihit game of the year.
It was more than enough for Gallardo (7-6), who retired his last seven batters. He struck out six and walked none in only his second victory in his last nine starts for the NL Central leaders.
Will Smith pitched a perfect eighth and Francisco Rodriguez finished the seven-hitter for his major league-best 36th save in 40 opportunities.
Reynolds connected with two out in the second, ending a 1-for-18 slump since his previous homer on Aug. 3 at St. Louis. The free-swinging Reynolds has at least 20 homers and 106 strikeouts in each of the last seven seasons.
Reynolds' deep drive to left on Arrieta's first pitch was gloved by a Cubs fan in the back row of the bleachers, earning a loud ovation from the crowd of 28,927. He quickly grabbed an older ball from his seat and threw it on the field, drawing another round of applause with the common trick in the outfield stands at Wrigley Field.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cubs: LHP Felix Doubront (strained left calf) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday. Doubront was acquired in a trade with Boston on July 30.
UP NEXT
Milwaukee RHP Wily Peralta (14-6, 3.42 ERA) tries for his sixth consecutive win when he takes on rookie RHP Kyle Hendricks (3-1, 2.10 ERA) in the second game of the four-game series. Peralta is 10-1 with a 4.06 ERA in his last 12 starts, but is winless in two career outings at Wrigley. Hendricks has won each of his last two starts for Chicago.