Gallardo pitches seven innings and scores on Braun’s double; Brewers beat Cubs 2-0

Gallardo shuts down Cubs in Brewers 2-0 win

MILWAUKEE — Yovani Gallardo pitched four-hit ball for seven innings and doubled and scored on Ryan Braun’s two-base hit in the fifth, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Gallardo won for the first time since beating Houston on Aug. 8, a span of seven starts. He allowed three singles and a double while walking three and striking out six.

Casey McGehee homered in the eighth after the Brewers scored their first run of the three-game series.

Gallardo (12-7) led off the fifth with a double, then scored two outs later when Braun blooped an opposite-field double down the first-base line. The Cubs had held their opponent scoreless for 25 innings before Braun’s hit, a streak that started Sept. 8 against Houston.

Kameron Loe retired the first two batters in the eighth, but was lifted for John Axford after giving up Xavier Nady’s single. Axford got Tyler Colvin to fly out to the warning track in center on the first pitch.

Axford stayed on and pitched the ninth for his 21st save in 23 chances, finishing the five-hitter and Brewers’ sixth shutout.

McGehee gave the Brewers a cushion in the eighth when he hit the first pitch from reliever Thomas Diamond into the Brewers’ bullpen in left for his 21st home run. He also snared a hard grounder off the bat of pinch-hitter Aramis Ramirez in the ninth.

Casey Coleman (1-2), the club’s 15th round pick in the 2008 June draft took the loss in his fifth career start after relieving in his first four games.

He allowed one run on five hits, struck out three and walked three as he tried to duplicate the Cubs’ dominance the previous two games.

On Friday, Carlos Zambrano was outstanding in a 4-0 victory on Friday. Ryan Dempster was just as dominant in a 1-0 win Saturday that was the 100th of his career. Carlos Marmol finished each game for saves.

The Brewers’ offense scratched out just three hits in each loss after producing 20 runs on 30 hits to take two of three from St. Louis as the six-game homestand began.

Gallardo was making his 10th start since coming off the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. Coming in he was 3-3 in that span, including three no decisions. He had one of his better outings in his last start despite losing 8-6 to St. Louis last Monday when he went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits.

Coleman showed some veteran composure weathering shortstop Starlin Castros’ throwing error, his 25th, that set up a bases-loaded jam in the third.

Corey Hart walked before Castro bobbled Braun’s two-out grounder and then threw wide of first. With Hart at third and Braun at second, Coleman intentionally walked Prince Fielder and then got McGehee to hit into a fielder’s choice.

NOTES: With a look toward next season, Macha said that RHP Mark Rogers, the team’s top pick in the 2004 first-year player draft, would get a start against the Florida Marlins during the final homestand. Recalled last Friday from Double-A Huntsville, he made his major league debut that night, pitching a perfect ninth inning against the Cubs. … Fielder’s 95 walks leads the NL. … Marmol has struck out a career-high 119 batters and is on pace to strike out 136 which would surpass Bruce Sutter’ single-season franchise mark of 129 Ks by a Cubs reliever in 1977.