Milwaukee (42-38) at Chi Cubs (39-38)

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mil

Brewers' rotation remains in flux

Adam McCalvy / MLB.com
Ken Macha has a decision to make regarding the Brewers' rotation, but one pitcher he hasn't had to think much about is Saturday's starter Braden Looper.
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Brewers probable pitcher

Braden Looper

  • #41 RHP
  • (6-4) 4.90 ERA 54 SO
Looper pitched into the seventh inning on Monday to beat the Mets for his first win in exactly one month, since he worked seven innings to top the Reds on May 29. He showed no ill effects from the line drive off the back of his right upper arm in his previous outing, limiting the Mets to three runs -- two were unearned, and the other scored with reliever Todd Coffey on the mound -- and seven hits. Looper took a no-decision in his only start against the Cubs this season, a five-inning, one-run performance in the Brewers' April 10 home opener. It was Looper's Brewers debut.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 64-62 4.02 1071.1 336 623 .269
Season 6-4 4.90 90.0 27 54 .275
Vs. Chi Cubs 0-0 1.80 5.0 4 4 .278

Series at a Glance

Standings - 07/04/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central) 42 38 .525 1.0 22-18 20-20
Chicago Cubs (NL Central) 39 38 .506 2.5 23-13 16-25
Stats - 07/04/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
MIL .253 374 92 367 25 628 4.45 705.2 690 287 558
CHC .246 322 85 308 32 587 3.81 692.1 628 298 601
chc

Soto beginning to right himself at plate

Andrew Simon / MLB.com
Mired in a massive slump in the season's early going, Geovany Soto has begun to find his form at the plate, and a big reason has been his ability to go the other way.
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Cubs probable pitcher

Rich Harden

  • #40 RHP
  • (5-4) 4.57 ERA 76 SO
Harden's changeup helped him dominate in his last start. Despite giving up nine hits, Harden struck out nine and gave up just one run for his first win since May 12. The right-hander has struggled at Wrigley Field this season, going 2-3 with a 6.31 ERA in seven starts. Harden got a no-decision in his only start against the Brewers in 2009, giving up one earned run in six innings in his first start of the season while striking out a season-high 10 batters. Harden is 1-0 against Milwaukee in his career with a 1.50 ERA in three starts.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 46-24 3.36 679.2 293 688 .219
Season 5-4 4.57 67.0 31 76 .248
Vs. Milwaukee 0-0 1.50 6.0 2 10 .143

Brewers hitters vs Rich Harden

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Braun, Ryan .333 3 0 1 .231 13 0 1
Cain, Lorenzo - - - - - - - -
Escobar, Alcides - - - - 1.000 2 0 3
Fielder, Prince .000 2 0 0 .111 9 1 2
Gamel, Mat - - - - - - - -
Gerut, Jody .000 2 0 0 .167 6 0 1
Gomez, Carlos .500 2 0 0 .333 3 0 0
Hart, Corey .500 2 1 1 .429 7 1 1
Heether, Adam - - - - - - - -
Iribarren, Hernan - - - - - - - -
Kottaras, George - - - - - - - -
McGehee, Casey - - - - 1.000 3 0 3
Rivera, Mike - - - - - - - -
Salome, Angel - - - - - - - -
Weeks, Rickie .000 3 0 0 .167 6 0 0

Cubs hitters vs Braden Looper

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Adduci, James - - - - - - - -
Baker, Jeff - - - - .333 3 0 1
Blanco, Andres - - - - 1.000 1 0 0
Bradley, Milton .333 3 1 1 .250 8 2 3
Castillo, Welington - - - - - - - -
Colvin, Tyler - - - - 1.000 1 0 1
Fontenot, Mike .500 2 0 0 .250 16 0 1
Fox, Jake - - - - .250 4 0 0
Fukudome, Kosuke .333 3 0 0 .333 24 1 2
Fuld, Sam - - - - - - - -
Hill, Koyie .000 1 0 0 .167 6 0 0
Hoffpauir, Micah - - - - .125 8 0 1
Lee, Derrek .000 2 0 0 .324 34 2 7
Miles, Aaron - - - - 1.000 1 0 0
Ramirez, Aramis .000 1 0 0 .345 29 2 5
Soriano, Alfonso .000 3 0 0 .158 19 0 1
Soto, Geovany - - - - .375 16 1 1
Theriot, Ryan 1.000 1 0 0 .310 29 0 0

Crew cuts Cubs down to size (43-38) (39-39)

Brewers 11, Cubs 2

Offense erupts

Adam McCalvy / MLB.com
Backed by a massive amount of support, Braden Looper cruised to his seventh win by tossing six frames of two-run ball. Casey McGehee had four hits, including a homer, and five RBIs, while Mike Cameron also went deep while driving in four.

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Series at a Glance

 

Harden hit hard

Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Milton Bradley homered for the first time since May 25, launching a two-run shot in the third, but that was it for the Cubs' offense -- and far from enough after Rich Harden yielded eight runs on seven hits before being pulled in the third inning.
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Brewers 11, Cubs 2

Milwaukee AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Counsell, 2B 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 .289
Hardy, SS 5 2 2 1 0 2 2 .228
Braun, LF 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 .327
Fielder, 1B 2 2 1 0 3 0 0 .310
McGehee, C, 3B 5 3 4 5 0 0 1 .331
  Narveson, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Cameron, M, CF 3 1 2 4 1 0 0 .248
  b-Gerut, PH-CF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .196
Hart, C, RF 5 0 2 0 0 0 4 .249
Kendall, C 5 0 0 0 0 0 6 .232
Looper, P 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .107
  a-Gamel, PH 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .239
  Villanueva, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333
  Coffey, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  c-Hall, PH-3B 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .202
Totals 40 11 14 10 5 4 17  

a-Walked for Looper in the 7th. b-Grounded out for Cameron, M in the 8th. c-Struck out for Coffey in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Braun (19, Harden), Cameron, M (16, Harden), Hart, C (17, Samardzija).
3B: McGehee, C (1, Harden).
HR: Cameron, M (14, 1st inning off Harden, 2 on, 1 out), Hardy (9, 2nd inning off Harden, 0 on, 1 out), McGehee, C (6, 6th inning off Samardzija, 1 on, 1 out).
TB: Counsell; Hardy 5; Braun 3; Fielder; McGehee, C 9; Cameron, M 6; Hart, C 3.
RBI: McGehee, C 5 (26), Cameron, M 4 (39), Hardy (33).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Looper; Kendall 3; Braun.
GIDP: McGehee, C.
Team RISP: 4-for-11.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
SB: Braun (7, 2nd base off Patton, D/Soto).

FIELDING
E: Hart, C (3, fielding), McGehee, C (5, throw).
DP: 3 (Hardy-Counsell-Fielder 2, McGehee, C-Counsell-Fielder).
 
Chi Cubs AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Fukudome, CF 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .259
  Blanco, A, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .228
Theriot, SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 .287
  Hart, K, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Lee, D, 1B 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .281
  Baker, Je, 1B 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .120
Bradley, RF 2 1 1 2 2 0 0 .244
Fox, J, 3B 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .299
Soriano, A, LF 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .223
Soto, C 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .232
Fontenot, 2B 3 0 2 0 1 1 0 .231
Harden, P 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .238
  Patton, D, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Hoffpauir, M, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .245
  Samardzija, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  b-Fuld, PH-CF 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .364
Totals 33 2 7 2 3 6 12  

a-Struck out for Patton, D in the 4th. b-Grounded out for Samardzija in the 7th.

BATTING
HR: Bradley (6, 3rd inning off Looper, 1 on, 0 out).
TB: Fukudome; Lee, D; Bradley 4; Fox, J; Fontenot 2; Harden.
RBI: Bradley 2 (19).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Soriano, A 2.
GIDP: Theriot; Soto; Fox, J.
Team RISP: 2-for-4.
Team LOB: 7.

FIELDING
PB: Soto (3).
DP: (Fontenot-Blanco, A-Baker, Je).
 
Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Looper (W, 7-4) 6.0 6 2 2 3 3 1 4.78
Villanueva 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.74
Coffey 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.70
Narveson 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 8.00
 
Chi Cubs IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Harden (L, 5-5) 2.0 8 7 7 1 1 2 5.35
Patton, D 2.0 3 2 2 2 0 0 5.63
Samardzija 3.0 3 2 2 1 2 1 6.14
Hart, K 2.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.59

Harden pitched to 2 batters in the 3rd.

WP: Samardzija.
IBB: Fielder (by Harden), Fielder (by Patton, D).
Pitches-strikes: Looper 112-62, Villanueva 7-5, Coffey 9-7, Narveson 14-11, Harden 52-33, Patton, D 37-21, Samardzija 45-31, Hart, K 23-12.
Groundouts-flyouts: Looper 12-3, Villanueva 1-2, Coffey 1-0, Narveson 0-2, Harden 3-2, Patton, D 4-2, Samardzija 3-4, Hart, K 3-2.
Batters faced: Looper 26, Villanueva 3, Coffey 3, Narveson 4, Harden 15, Patton, D 11, Samardzija 13, Hart, K 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Patton, D 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Tim Welke. 1B: Jim Reynolds. 2B: James Hoye. 3B: Bill Welke.
Weather: 68 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 3 mph, R to L.
T: 2:36.
Att: 40,088.
July 4, 2009

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner