Brewers defeat Cubs 7-3 in game one

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

 Mat Gamel and superior hitting led the Milwaukee Brewers to victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night, with Gamel making two hits and two runs out of four at-bats in a game where the Brewers outscored the Cubs 7-5.

The game went back and forth through the first five innings, with the Cubs’ Darwin Barney and Bryan Lahair hitting homeruns in the first and second innings, respectively.

LaHair, who hit 38 homeruns in the minor leagues last year, was the most successful Cub at the plate, with two hits out of four at-bats and one RBI scored.

The Brewers held the lead by the end of the fourth after ex-Cub Aramis Ramirez hit a sac fly in the first, sending Nyjer Morgan across the home plate, Rickie Weeks hit a homerun in the third and Shaun Marcum brought Alex Gonzalez home on a squeeze bunt.

The Cubs evened it out in the fifth when Blake DeWitt pinch-hit for starting pitcher Chris Volstad, knocking a sac fly into right field that brought Geovany Soto in from third.

The tie didn’t last, though, as the Brewers scored two RBIs in the sixth thanks to a triple by Gamel and a sac fly by Lucroy that brought Hart and Gamel home.

In the seventh a double to center field by Ramirez allowed an RBI by Ryan Braun, and in the eighth Gamel scored again after Carlos Gomez sacrificed to the pitcher with a bunt, putting the score at 7-3, Brewers.

Two final runs in the ninth inning by Ian Stewart and Soto weren’t enough for the Cubs, and the Brewers took the game at 7-5.

Game two of the four game series will be at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m., Eastern Time.