Gallardo helps Brewers sweep Cubs
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Yovani Gallardo won his fifth straight start and the Milwaukee Brewers finished off a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 3-2 win.
Gallardo (13-8) held the Cubs to two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts over seven innings. Over his past five starts, the right-hander has pitched to a 2.05 earned run average.
"He has strung together a lot of nice games in a row now," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "With all the pitches he can command, it makes it really tough to look for a certain pitch."
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"The last couple of starts have been nice," Gallardo said. "I have been able to command my fastball and slider well."
Ryan Braun drove in a pair of runs and finished a single short of the cycle. The home run was his National League-leading 34th of the season.
Bryan LaHair laced his first home run since July 4, but the Cubs lost their fourth straight game.
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Travis Wood (4-10) took the loss after allowing three runs in seven innings. He gave up six hits and a walk while striking out six.
"Just a couple of mistakes," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "Otherwise, he pitched pretty good."
David DeJesus spotted the Cubs a first-inning lead when he blasted his 12th career leadoff home run to right-center field.
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But the Brewers quickly jumped ahead. Norichika Aoki punched a double in between DeJesus and Brett Jackson in left-center field to start the bottom of the first. After Rockie Weeks struck out, Braun belted a double to right field to tie the game.
Aramis Ramirez popped out before Corey Hart dropped a broken-bat double down the left-field line to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead in the first.
Braun hammered a 1-1 fastball to the concourse beyond right-center field to tack another run on the board in the sixth, but LaHair lined a first-pitch fastball over the fence in right to pull the Cubs back within one in the top of the seventh.
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However, the Cubs were unable to complete the comeback. Jim Henderson worked around a one-out walk and pitched a scoreless eighth inning and John Axford struck out the side in the ninth to earn his 20th save of the season.
"His fastball was outstanding again," Roenicke said. "He had a great slider to get a strikeout."
Game Notes
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The Cubs are 4-18 in their last 22 games and a season-worst 29 games under .500 ... Prior to the game, the Brewers released pitcher Randy Wolf. The team recalled infielder Jeff Bianchi from Triple-A Nashville ... Braun tied Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran for the NL lead with 85 RBI ... Gallardo leads the NL with 21 quality starts ... The Cubs went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and stranded five ... The Brewers went 2-for-9 with RISP and left four on base.