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Winning Pitcher: Jason Hammel
Losing Pitcher: Wily Peralta
HR: Starlin Castro (3)
Wily Peratla came out strong to start the game retiring the side in order in the first, including 2 strikeouts. Unfortunately he wasn't as fine in the second inning. He allowed a lead off home run to Starlin Castro. He then allowed the next three base runners to reach safely. Darwin Barney would come to the plate with bases loaded and no outs. He would hit into a fielders choice getting the force out at third. If it weren't for a poor throw from Aramis Ramirez it looked like the Brewers would have gotten runner out at home too. The Cubs took an early 2-0 lead, but would score no more as Jason Hammel hit into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play.
Peralta ran into a bit more trouble in the sixth inning where he gave up back to back singles. After a ground out advanced the runners, a sac fly scored the Cubs' 3rd run of the game.
The Brewers, on the other hand, were letting Jason Hammel dominate them. They didn't have a hit against him until Carlos Gomez hit a double in the sixth inning. Scooter Gennett followed up with a walk and then they both advanced on an errant throw from Hammel as he was trying to catch Gomez off second base. With runners at second and third with one out Jonathan Lucroy would strike out. A lot of talk has been made of Aramis Ramirez's numbers with runners in scoring position. I'm of the opinion that those stats are pretty meaningless. As of the last week Ramiez had been struggling and this at-bat reflected that as he grounded out to end the inning.
The Cubs still had the 3-0 lead going into the seventh inning. They didn't score that inning and so Peralta was able to go 7 full innings. It wasn't a bad start and he gave the Brewers a chance to win. If nothing else his start helped further rest what was becoming an overused bullpen and that's a pretty good silver lining.
The Brewers non-offense also gave Brandon Kintzler a chance to get in a game as he pitched the 8th inning. Unfortunately for him Starlin Castro decided to have a good day and hit another home run. Other than that Kinztler looked okay. He didn't allow another hit and got a fly out, ground out, and strikeout.
Rickie Weeks lead off the eighth inning with a single, but that was it. Down by four runs, Ron Roenicke allowed Wei-Chung Wang to make his third appearance of the year. Wang responded with a strikeout, fly out, and a ground out. It was against the bottom of the Cubs lineup, but still a nice outing.
All three Brewers batters struck out in the ninth inning to put an exclamation point on what might have been their worst offensive game of the year. The Cubs won 4-0 and the Brewers season record drops to a STILL MAJOR LEAGUE LEADING 18-7.
The Brewers travel to St. Louis to face the Cardinals tomorrow. Game time is 7:15 pm CT. Yovani Gallardo takes on Michael Wacha so it's probably going to be another tough game.
