Brewers 5, Cubs 1: Back to .500!

Win: Burgos (1-0)
Loss: Jackson (0-4)

HR: Lucroy (3)

MVP: Hiram Burgos (.179 WPA)
LVP: Rickie Weeks (-.079 WPA)

Fangraphs Win Expectancy Graph
Boxscore

I would call that a pretty successful major league debut.

After taking Mike Fiers' spot in the rotation, Hiram Burgos gave up just one earned run in five innings pitched. He probably could have gone longer--he had only thrown 83 pitches when he was pulled--but his spot was up in the order with a tie game and two men on base. The strikeouts weren't there as he had just one K, but he also didn't walk any Cubs' hitters. Also, the decision to remove him ended up being a good one.

Blake Lalli hit for Burgos in the fifth inning and drove in Logan Schafer, who had reached base on a fielding error by Alfonso Soriano and moved to third on a groundout. Martin Maldonado then scored when Norichika Aoki reached base on a fielding error by Starlin Castro. Overall, the Cubs' fielding was a mess. They had three errors overall in this game.

Chicago starter Edwin Jackson looked much better today than he did in his first start against Milwaukee. This time around, he allowed just four hits and a walk en route to giving up one earned run in six innings. He did allow five runs overall, but that will happen when the defense decides to juts give up behind you. His only earned run came on a Jonathan Lucroy home run in the second inning that opened scoring today.

A Soriano single in the fourth inning did score Starlin Castro to tie the game, but the Brewers' fifth inning brought the lead back to Milwaukee. The Brewers added two more in the sixth inning as Lucroy bunted and reached on an error by Jackson himself. The error also moved Ryan Braun to third base as he had already reached on a single. Logan Schafer squeezed home Braun and Maldonado drove in Lucroy to secure a 5-1 lead for Milwaukee that they would not give up.

The bullpen ended up pitched four scoreless innings today. Brandon Kintzler was particularly impressive as he struck out three batters without giving up a walk or hit over two innings. Mike Gonzalez did allow two baserunners, but did not give up a run in an inning. Burke Badenhop pitched a clean ninth inning to end the game.

The Brewers are now back at .500, a mark they have not been at since the second game of the season. With a six game winning streak, maybe this season won't go so badly after all.

The Brewers will hope to continue their hot run tomorrow with one more game against the Cubs. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 as Wily Peralta takes on Scott Feldman.