Halton, Thornburg lead Brewers past Cubs, 7-0

[September 19, 2013]  MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Sean Halton hit his first career grand slam, Tyler Thornburg allowed just two singles over six innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 7-0 on Wednesday night.

Thornburg (3-1) struck out four and walked two as he reached six innings for the sixth straight start since being recalled from Triple A Nashville on June 29. He has allowed five earned runs in 36 innings as a starter and has also made 11 relief appearances for the Brewers this season. At Nashville, he was 0-9 with a 5.79 ERA in 15 starts.

Jimmy Nelson pitched two innings and Michael Blazek got the last three outs to preserve the four-hit shutout.

Halton's homer capped a five-run first inning off Chris Rusin (2-5). Jean Segura walked with one out and advanced to second on Jonathan Lucroy's single. Aramis Ramirez singled in Segura. After Carlos Gomez flied out, Khris Davis walked to load the bases. Halton then drove a 3-2 pitch 370 feet over the right-field wall for his fourth home run.

Davis led off the fourth inning with his 10th home run to put the Brewers up 6-0.

Milwaukee added a run in the fifth when reliever Alberto Cabrera hit Norichika Aoki, Ramirez walked and Gomez followed with an RBI double. Davis walked to load the bases again for Halton, but he struck out to end the inning.

Ryan Sweeney was the only Cubs runner to reach second base with a double in the seventh off Nelson. The Cubs have lost seven of their last eight and are just 15-34 since July 29.

NOTES: Brewers SS Segura left the game after the first inning with what the team announced as a strained right hamstring. He is listed as day-to-day. ... The Brewers improved to 13-5 this season against the Cubs. Since 2011, they hold a 36-15 advantage.

[Associated Press; By JIM HOEHN]

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