Milwaukee, WI – Jonathan Lucroy hit a solo homer and scored twice and Martin Maldonado added a pair of hits and drove in a run as the Milwaukee Brewers downed the Chicago Cubs 5-1 at Miller Park.
Logan Schafer and Blake Lalli also drove in one run apiece for the Brewers, winners of six straight.
Hiram Burgos (1-0) was solid in his major league debut, allowing one run on five hits over five frames.
Alfonso Soriano drove in the lone run for the Cubs, losers in five of their last six.
Edwin Jackson (0-3) was tagged for five runs -- one earned -- on four hits over six innings to absorb the loss.
Lucroy crushed an 0-1 fastball over the wall in left-center field to give the Brewers a 1-0 edge in the second inning.
The Cubs tied the game in the fourth after Starlin Castro scored on a Soriano base hit to center field. Castro singled then moved to second on Anthony Rizzo's groundout. Soriano followed with a line drive up the middle and Castro scored easily.
Shaky fielding cost the Cubs in the fifth inning.
With runners on second and third, Lalli, in a pinch-hitting role, smoked a ball to Rizzo, who fielded it cleanly, but lost control as he was touching first base. Schafer broke for home immediately and scored without a throw.
Norichika Aoki followed with a slow grounder to short, but Castro bobbled the ball as he took it out of his glove, allowing Maldonado to score.
The Brewers added two more runs in the sixth to take a 5-1 lead. With runners on the corners and one out, Schafer put down a perfect bunt to execute a suicide squeeze scoring Ryan Braun. Maldonado followed with a base hit to left field to score Lucroy from second.
Milwaukee's bullpen allowed just two base runners the rest of the way.
Game Notes
Milwaukee is 5-0 on its current six-game homestand ... The Brewers are 6-1 when scoring first this season and 7-4 when they hit at least one homer ... Castro extended his hitting streak to 12 games ... Jackson has 993 career strikeouts.
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