Chicago @ Milwaukee preview
American Family Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 9, 2010 ) Chi. Cubs 9, Milwaukee 4
The Chicago Cubs showed a little life Wednesday, and will try to build on it Thursday afternoon in the rubber match of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
The Cubs hit a season-high five home runs in a 9-4 victory over the Brewers on Wednesday. Marlon Byrd and Geovany Soto each hit two homers and Derrek Lee added his 300th career blast to lift the Cubs to victory. Chicago had not hit five home runs in its previous nine games combined.
The offensive explosion comes a day after the Cubs put who they thought would be one of their biggest weapons on the disabled list.
Third baseman Aramis Ramirez went on the DL on Wednesday with an injured left thumb. Ramirez hurt his thumb last month while swinging a bat in a game against Cincinnati. To make a run at the Reds and St. Loius Cardinals at the top of the National League Central, Chicago will need to maintain the offense, get Ramirez back healthy and have him break out of what has been a season-long slump.
Ramirez was hitting .168 with five homers and 22 RBIs at the time of the move. He has hit at least 26 homers six times in his career, including five times with the Cubs. A career .282 hitter, Ramirez hit 15 homers last season in just 82 games. He has played in 47 games this season.
All the offense in the world won't really help if the Cubs don't pitch better. They finally got a win out of Carlos Zambrano on Wednesday and look to Ryan Dempster to keep things going in the series finale Thursday.
Dempster (4-5, 3.76 ERA) has won two of his last three starts after a stretch where he lost four of five with a no-decision. He has shut down the Brewers once this season, allowing a run and seven hits in 7 2/3 innings of an 8-1 victory on April 23. In 41 career games against Milwaukee, including 19 starts, Dempster is 13-3 with 10 saves and an ERA of 2.80.
The Brewers could use a dose of solid pitching as well, as they find themselves just a half game ahead of Houston and a game ahead of Pittsburgh in the race to stay out of the cellar in the NL Central. Milwaukee also needs to find a way to get slugger Ryan Braun going at home.
Braun's hot-and-cold act has him hitting just .228 with two homers and six RBI in 23 home games. On the road he is a monster, raking at a .362 clip with six homers and 28 RBI in 33 games.
It has been 14 games since Braun last hit a home run and he has just four RBI in that span, including two in Wednesday's loss. He was hitting .365 on May 9 but is down to .305 after an 0-for-3 performance Wednesday.
Speaking of a player Milwaukee needs to perform better at home, Dave Bush gets the start against the Cubs.
Bush (1-5, 4.97) is 0-3 with a 5.47 ERA in five starts at Miller Park this season. He was 1-0 after three starts but hit the skids after an outing against the Cubs on April 25 in which he allowed nine runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Chicago is not the best choice of opponent to get Bush going as the right-hander is 2-9 with a 5.43 ERA in 18 games against the Cubs, including 17 starts.