Yelich homers, Brewers blank Cubs again

Christian Yelich clubbed a three-run home run, and seven pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout as the Milwaukee Brewers blanked the host Chicago Cubs in a 4-0 win on Sunday afternoon.

Orlando Arcia also drove in a run for the Brewers, who shut out the Cubs for the second consecutive contest. Milwaukee notched its seventh shutout of the season, with three of those coming against Chicago.

Kris Bryant, Victor Caratini, Addison Russell and Ian Happ each singled for the Cubs' only hits. Chicago dropped its second home series in a row.

Brewers right-hander Jay Jackson (1-0) earned his first career victory by pitching two scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits, walking one and striking out one. Jackson replaced Gio Gonzalez, who tossed three scoreless innings but was taken out after throwing only 22 of 56 pitches for strikes.

Cubs right-hander Tyler Chatwood (5-3) drew the hard-luck loss after allowing one run on three hits in 3 2/3 innings. Chatwood, a late replacement for veteran right-hander Yu Darvish, who was scratched from his scheduled start because of tightness in his right forearm, struck out seven and walked four.

The Brewers opened the scoring with a run in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Arcia grounded out to second to drive home Ben Gamel.

Chatwood then walked David Freitas to put runners on first and third. That was enough for Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who brought in left-hander Brad Wieck to replace Chatwood. Wieck, who was making his team debut after spending parts of this season and last with the San Diego Padres, promptly struck out Trent Grisham to end the threat.

The Cubs tried to mount a comeback in the sixth when they put runners on first and second with nobody out. The rally quickly fizzled, though, as Brewers left-hander Alex Claudio came in to record three outs on two pitches. Jason Heyward bunted into a force out at third base before Russell grounded into a double play on back-to-back deliveries.

Yelich padded the lead with a three-run blast in the ninth off Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel. The reigning National League Most Valuable Player belted a 3-2 pitch an estimated 443 feet to center field for his 42nd homer.

--Field Level Media