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 Shortstop Starlin Castro drove in a pair of runs and first baseman
Anthony Rizzo added two hits, including his third home run in as
many games, as the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1.
"We could care less (about the trade deadline)," said Cubs
right-hander Jason Hammel, who struck out four in 5 2/3 innings
Friday. "That's not our role. We're supposed to come out here and
win ball games, whoever's on the roster. We like who we've got. And
I'm sure the people they would go get, it's a good reason for them
to come here. We're pretty confident with the fellas we have."
The Cubs collected nine hits off three Brewers pitchers, with seven
of the hits coming at the expense of right-hander Taylor Jungmann
(5-3), who allowed three runs -- two earned -- while walking a pair
and striking out seven.
"It was a little frustrating," said Jungmann, who lost consecutive
decisions for the first time in his career. "I made some good
pitches and there were situations that I gave myself a chance to
make a pitch to get out of an inning. You have to give them credit
for finding a way to put the bat on the ball. I left a few of them
up and they made some good swings to put the bat on the ball."
Right fielder Ryan Braun's team-leading 19th home run of the season
gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the first. Chicago got the run back
in the second when third baseman Kris Bryant walked and scored on a
single by Castro.
"Just try to put the ball in play," Castro said. "Just take it out
of the box and breathe. I try to go in there and pitch by pitch.
Don't try to do too much with one pitch. They have to throw me one
pitch to hit."
Castro put the Cubs ahead in the fourth, driving in Rizzo on a
fielder's choice, but Chicago missed a chance to break the game open
in the fifth when Milwaukee intentionally walked Rizzo with two outs
to get to Bryant, who chopped into a force at third to end the
inning.
Milwaukee had its chance in the bottom of the inning, putting
runners at the corners with one out for catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who
hit into a double play to snuff out the threat.
"That was our big opportunity," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
"We had runners on base tonight. We're just a hit away. We did a
decent job getting runners on base, but we couldn't get that big
hit."
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Hammel (6-5) gave up six hits and a pair of walks before turning it
over to the bullpen, which allowed only one hit over the final 3 1/3
innings.
"I saw two things: 93-94 (miles per hour) and I saw the ball down,"
Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
Hammel improved to 7-0 with a 2.18 ERA against the Brewers in his
career, including a 5-0 mark with a 1.60 ERA at Miller Park.
"I like pitching here," Hammel said. "I feel like the ball --
whatever, it's the atmosphere -- the ball feels good. I feel like I
have a good grip. And it is what it is. I don't know. Those things I
can't really explain."
NOTES: The Brewers made two more deals before the non-waiver trade
deadline. RHP Jonathan Broxton was sent to St. Louis for minor
league OF Malik Collymore, and OF Gerardo Parra is headed to the
Baltimore Orioles, who gave up minor league RHP Zach Davies in the
deal. ... After shipping OF Carlos Gomez and RHP Mike Fiers to
Houston on Thursday, the Brewers called up OF Logan Schafer, UTL
Elian Herrera and RHP Tyler Thornburg from Triple-A Colorado
Springs. ... Milwaukee finished the day by claiming RHP Preston
Guilmet off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... The Cubs also
made a deal with Baltimore, trading OF Junior Lake to the Orioles in
exchange for RHP Tommy Hunter. Earlier in the day, Chicago acquired
RHP Dan Haren from the Miami Marlins in exchange for minor leaguers
Ivan Pineyro and Elliot Soto. Haren, 34, is 7-7 with a 3.42 ERA in
21 starts this season and has a 3.52 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 129
innings.
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