Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Jon Lester threw seven scoreless innings,
and Addison Russell hit his first major league home run in the Chicago Cubs’
1-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
Lester (1-2) earned his first win as a Cub after he struck out four and only
allowed three hits and a walk. Pedro Strop threw a 1-2-3 eighth, and Hector
Rondon recorded his fifth save.
Wily Peralta (0-4) struck out six and only allowed a run in six innings but
remained winless on the season. Gerardo Parra and Jason Rogers had two hits
apiece.
After getting three hits but no runs in their first at-bat, the Cubs got what
they hope is a glimpse of the future when Russell, their star shortstop
prospect, hit a Peralta fastball into the bleachers in the third inning.
Peralta got into more trouble later in the inning. After Jorge Soler
singled again, he hit Anthony Rizzo and walked Kris Bryant to load the bases.
Peralta got out of the jam by inducing a ground-ball double play from Starlin
Castro.
Parra singled with two outs in the fourth, but the next 15 batters were
retired by Chicago pitching. After Lester departed, Strop struck out two
batters, and Rondon worked around a two-out double to secure the win.
Milwaukee’s best chance to score came in the second inning. With two outs and
a runner on first, Parra singled to keep the inning alive and Lester walked
Luis Jimenez to load the bases. This left Peralta at the plate with the bases
loaded, but he struck out to end the threat.
Game Notes
Milwaukee has not won a series this season … Brewers besides Parra and
Rogers combined to hit 0-for-23 … Soler and Castro each had two hits for the
Cubs … Russell hit 38 home runs in 244 career minor league games.
