Jokisch struggles, but Cubs pull out 6-4 win

MILWAUKEE - It took some doing Friday night, but the Cubs were able to extract a 6-4 victory over the Brewers at Miller Park.

That extraction may have resembled a tooth pulling as the team plodded along for 3 hours, 34 minutes.

Rookie left-hander Eric Jokisch made his first major-league start for the Cubs after appearing in three games as a reliever. Jokisch lasted only 4 innings as command issues dogged him. He threw first-pitch strikes to only three of the 20 batters he faced and wound up walking four.

"It was a tough one," said Jokisch, a product of Northwestern. "I'm a command guy, usually, a strike thrower, and that just wasn't happening today. I battled through it, make pitches when I needed to and gave us a chance to win.

"I was a lot more nervous than I thought I'd be. I was actually pretty calm in the relief appearances. I think the sitting around and having it in my mind got to me a little bit. I was definitely nervous. I'm not going to lie about that."

Chris Coghlan led off the game with his ninth home run of the season. In the third inning, Coghlan led off with a double and came home on a single by Javier Baez. Baez had 3 singles and 2 RBI.

Manager Rick Renteria was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing with second-base umpire Jeff Nelson. The Brewers' Carlos Gomez reached on an infield single to third baseman Luis Valbuena. The Cubs stopped because a balk had been called on pitcher Pedro Strop. But the play continued, and the Brewers took the hit.

"I said enough to get tossed, and that was it," Renteria said. "I thought he called a balk and was perplexed, that's all. I didn't necessarily agree, obviously."

Hendricks done for the year:

Kyle Hendricks will not start Sunday as originally scheduled. Instead, the Cubs will pitch Jacob Turner against the Brewers. Hendricks has thrown 183 innings this season between the Cubs and Class AAA Iowa.

"At this point, we have nothing to gain by having him go back out," said Rick Renteria.

Olt to the outfield?

The Cubs may look at third baseman Mike Olt in the outfield. Olt struggled at the plate earlier this season before being sent to Class AAA Iowa.

"He's got work to do at the plate," said team President Theo Epstein. "He's planning to spend the whole winter, pretty much, out in Arizona. He's a little better in certain aspects of his offensive game since he's come back.

"Something that we're sit and talk about and perhaps eventually talk to him about is the ability to play corner outfield, as well. He's always a threat against left-handed pitching … That's a nice default for him if the opportunity play every day doesn't materialize."