Cubs 8, Brewers 5: Slammed back to last place

W: Carlos Villanueva (5-8)
L: Kyle Lohse (9-9)
S: Kevin Gregg (30)

HR: Aramis Ramirez (10), Scooter Gennett (6), Junior Lake (grand slam, 5)

MVP: Aramis Ramirez (+.068 WPA)
LVP: Kyle Lohse (-.407 WPA)

Win Expectancy Graph
Box Score

The Brewers don't play a lot of Friday day games, but today we learned they're just as bad during the day on Fridays as they are on the week's other days.

This one was over early as Kyle Lohse allowed five runs on five hits and a walk in the first inning, including the first grand slam of Junior Lake's career. Lohse did manage to complete five innings today but allowed seven total runs on eleven hits, walking one and striking out two.

Jimmy Nelson followed Lohse to the mound for his major league debut and pitched two perfect innings. He's the first Brewer to pitch two or more perfect innings in his debut since Mike McClendon in 2010, and the second since Allen Levrault in 2000.

The offensive good news from today came from Aramis Ramirez, who hit a solo home run in the third inning and now has five in his last 16 appearances. Ramirez scored his 1000th career run on the play, and I wrote more about that here. Scooter Gennett also came off the bench to hit a three run homer in the eighth and make it a save situation.

The bad news from today came from Khris Davis, who was a late scratch from the lineup with a sore wrist. He's day-to-day. The other bad news is that the Brewers and Cubs are now tied for fourth place in the NL Central at 60-80. The Brewers were last in last place on August 19.

This series continues tomorrow when Johnny Hellweg takes on Jake Arrieta at 3:05.