(Sports Network) – There is still a month left of baseball to be played, but
the Milwaukee Brewers already have a chance to spring towards the finish line
in the race for the National League Central.

Looking to set a club record for the most wins in one month, the Brewers aim
to build on their already sizeable lead over the second-place St. Louis
Cardinals tonight in the opener of a three-game series at Miller Park.

Milwaukee has posted a 21-5 record in August, matching the 1978 club’s record
of most wins in a month set during June. The Brewers outstanding run includes
four victories in six meetings with the Cardinals in August, part of the
reason they lead the division by 10 1/2 games.

An outstanding home record has also contributed. The Brewers are a MLB-best
50-16 at Miller Park this year, winning 21 of their past 24 games as the host.
They have captured eight of their last 10 at home over the Cardinals dating
back to last year.

“It’s an unbelievable streak that they have been on,” St. Louis outfielder Jon
Jay said on his team’s website. “But we can’t be worried about what other
people are doing. We have to show up and take care of our business. The series
with Milwaukee is a big one, but every game for us is now big. We have to stay
positive and just take it a game at a time. We can’t think ahead.”

The Brewers will be looking towards their possible first division title of any
kind since winning the AL East back in 1982, when they lost the World Series
in seven games to the Cardinals.

Milwaukee picked up its ninth home sweep of the season on Sunday, notching a
3-2 victory over Chicago in the finale of a three-game set. Corey Hart hit a
two-run homer to cap an excellent series in which he went 7-for-10 to run his
hitting streak to 11 games, while Zack Greinke yielded just one run over 7 2/3
innings.

“The fastball command was pretty good, and so were the changeup and slider,”
Greinke said. “They just put the ball in play and we made some nice plays.”

Milwaukee next turns to Shaun Marcum, who is coming off his first loss since
June 29, a defeat at Pittsburgh on Wednesday that halted a nine-start unbeaten
streak (4-0).

The right-hander pitched well in a 2-0 defeat, giving up both runs on four
hits and three walks over six innings. Still, he fell to 11-4 with a 3.38
earned run average on the season.

“For the most part I thought I made good pitches when I had to,” said Marcum.
“But they took advantage of the chances when they got them and two runs was
enough today.”

Marcum’s unbeaten run included a pair of starts versus the Cardinals in which
he did not factor into the decision. The 29-year-old yielded six runs over six
frames of an 8-7 home loss on Aug. 2, then held St. Louis to three runs over
another six innings of a 5-3 road win on Aug. 9.

The Cardinals may just need a sweep of this series to keep their fading
playoff chances alive and the pressure of this evening’s opener will fall on
Edwin Jackson.

The right-hander is 3-2 with a 3.99 ERA in six starts with St. Louis since
being acquired via trade and won his last outing on Thursday against the
Pirates. Jackson allowed four runs over six innings, but only one was earned
in an 8-4 triumph as he won for the fifth time in his past seven decisions.

“He did a good job of recognizing what wasn’t right and making the adjustment
a couple of times,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “That’s
encouraging.”

Jackson is 10-9 with a 3.94 ERA in 25 overall starts this year and will be
looking to forget his last start at Miller Park on Aug. 3, when he was drilled
for 10 runs — eight earned — over seven innings of a loss as he bit the
bullet for an overworked bullpen.

The 27-year-old fared batter six days later in a home start versus the
Brewers, giving up a pair of earned runs over six innings of a no-decision.

St. Louis secured a series victory on Sunday over the Pirates, taking the
finale of a four-game set by a 7-4 margin. Skip Schumaker and Ryan Theriot
both drove in two runs and Kyle Lohse allowed two earned runs over five
innings to earn his 100th major league victory.

“This is one of our more clutch wins,” said La Russa. “We had a chance to win
the series and we didn’t have any carry over. Guys came out today, had a tough
start, hung in there and got a big win.”

St. Louis rebounded from a 7-0 defeat a day earlier and had lost seven of nine
prior to the series.

The Sports Network

Ryan Braun hit a go-ahead double in the fifth and scored on the play when Darwin Barney made his second error of the inning, rallying the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night for their 25th win in the last 30 games.  

George Kottaras homered in the fourth for the Brewers, who lead St. Louis by 9 1-2 games in the NL Central.  

Barney made two mistakes in the fifth that cost Chicago, which leads the majors with 110 errors.  

He failed to touch first base on a sacrifice bunt by Nyjer Morgan, then his throw over the head of third baseman Aramis Ramirez allowed Corey Hart and Braun to score. 

Brewers starter Randy Wolf (11-8) allowed a leadoff homer to Starlin Castro before winning his fifth straight. 

Wolf left with a man on second and two outs in the seventh for Takashi Saito, who struck out Castro to end the threat. In the bottom of the inning, Prince Fielder singled in his 101st run this season to make it 5-2. 

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a quiet eighth and John Axford converted his 38th save in the ninth by getting Blake DeWitt to ground out with runners at second and third.   

The Brewers improved to a majors-best 48-16 at home as they continue to show little signs of slowing down in their quest for their first division title since winning the AL East in 1982 on the way to their only World Series appearance. 

Castro homered to start a game for the first time in his career and Chicago went ahead 2-0 on Jeff Baker’s double in the third after an error by Wolf, but Kottaras answered with a towering solo shot in the fourth. 

In the fifth, Hart singled to extend his hitting streak to nine and Morgan laid down a bunt that Cubs starter Rodrigo Lopez (4-5) fielded. Lopez’s throw was just a little low and Barney, who moved from second base to cover first on the play, pulled his left foot off the bag to field it, allowing Morgan to reach. 

Braun followed with his double that hit the top of the wall, but landed just below the yellow line. As Braun hustled to second, Barney took right fielder Reed Johnson’s relay throw and fired over Ramirez’s head into the Cubs dugout. 

Third base umpire James Hoye awarded both Hart and Braun home to give Milwaukee a 4-2 lead.  

Wolf has been another important reason why the Brewers’ rotation has been so strong. The veteran left-hander who turned 35 on Monday has won five in a row for the first time since pitching for the Dodgers in 2009. He went 6 2-3 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits to lower his ERA to 3.37.  

NOTES: The Cubs have lost six straight in Milwaukee. … Wolf’s career-best ERA was 3.20 with the Phillies in 2002. … It was Kottaras’ first home run since June 18. … Ramirez doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 15 games. … Saturday’s matchup features Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo (14-8, 3.51 ERA) against Cubs RHP Ryan Dempster (10-9, 4.60). 

The Brewers took the opener 8-1 for their 13th straight victory over Pittsburgh, but the Pirates pounded Milwaukee ace Zack Greinke in the second game.

“We were able to do some things we haven’t been able to do against them, getting some timely hits, getting some hits with runners in scoring position, running the bases aggressively,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

Greinke (12-5) gave up seven runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings in losing for the first time in a month. The defeat was just the fourth in the last 23 games for the NL Central-leading Brewers.

Daniel McCutchen (4-3) earned the victory in relief of spot starter Brad Lincoln, who held the surging Brewers to two runs over six innings. Pittsburgh beat the Brewers for the first time since July 21, 2010.

The Brewers have been baseball’s best team over the last month, thanks in part to Greinke. The right-hander came in 5-0 in his last five starts with a 1.58 ERA and was a perfect 3-0 in his career against the Pirates.

Not anymore.

Greinke ran into trouble in the seventh as the Pirates let out a year of frustration, scoring a season-high seven runs in the inning. There wasn’t one big hit, but a series of little ones.

A bout of unexpected wildness from Greinke helped Pittsburgh. The former Cy Young winner hit Matt Diaz with a pitch, and he later came around to score on a wild pitch.

“Things just fell apart that inning,” Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. “I think when he hit Diaz, that started it, but after that, we just fell apart.”

Jose Tabata added two hits for the Pirates to finish with five in the doubleheader. The 23-year-old outfielder is 7 for 13 since signing a six-year contract extension on Sunday.

“He hasn’t missed a click,” Hurdle said.

Pittsburgh’s outburst seemed unlikely after the Brewers romped to victory in the opener and quickly jumped on Lincoln in the nightcap. Corey Hart led off the game with his 19th homer of the season and the Brewers added a second run on an RBI groundout by Prince Fielder.

Yet Lincoln settled down after that, allowing just one hit over his final five innings.

“I just wanted to give my team a chance to win and get deep into the game,” Lincoln said.

He did more than enough to impress Hurdle, who said Lincoln will join the rotation temporarily after starter Kevin Correia was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique.

Even with the loss the Brewers saw their lead over second-place St. Louis rise to nine games, the club’s largest-ever lead in the standings.

“When you’re on the road, you’re playing a doubleheader, you’re fine with a split,” Roenicke said. “I mean, hey, you would have liked to have won two games and played a solid game all the way through, but some things happened.”

PITTSBURGH (AP)—

Chris Narveson pitched shutout ball and knocked in two runs after coming off the disabled list, leading the streaking Milwaukee Brewers to an 8-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opening game of a doubleheader Monday.

Ryan Braun hit his 25th homer for the Brewers, who have won 19 of 22 to open a comfortable lead in the NL Central over second-place St. Louis. Milwaukee won its 13th straight against the fading Pirates.

Narveson (9-6) gave up five hits and struck out three before leaving in the sixth inning after having an issue with the nail on the middle finger of his left hand. The injury didn’t appear to be related to the left thumb laceration that sent him to the 15-day DL this month.

Ryan Ludwick hit his 12th home run and Jose Tabata added three hits for the Pirates, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The Brewers have outscored Pittsburgh 51-16 in nine meetings this season. Jeff Karstens (9-7) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out five.

Milwaukee right-hander Zack Greinke was set to face Brad Lincoln in the nightcap.

A month ago, Pittsburgh was hoping this series would be an important one. The Pirates made a brief cameo in first place on July 19, fueling hope the team’s streak of 18 consecutive losing seasons would soon be over.

The series is still important, but only to the Brewers, who are looking for their first division title since 1982.

By going on a 19-3 surge, Milwaukee has turned a half-game deficit into the largest division lead in franchise history. The Pirates, a contender five weeks ago, dropped 16{ game out. The Brewers have done some of their damage without Narveson, who was forced to the disabled list on Aug. 9 after cutting his left thumb with a pair of scissors while repairing his glove. The injury might have been more embarrassing than painful, and once back on the hill Narveson had no issues with the Pirates, who haven’t beaten their rivals in more than a year.

Narveson cruised until the sixth when he appeared to injure the middle finger of his left hand. The left-hander, who digs the tips of his fingers into the ball when he grips it, grimaced after throwing a pitch to Steve Pearce.

He gave way to reliever Kameron Loe, but by then Narveson had made his presence felt with his arm and his bat, smacking a two-run single in the fourth after the Pirates intentionally walked Craig Counsell to load the bases with two outs.

Karstens worked the count to 1-2 before Narveson _ a .230 career hitter _ laced a line drive to right to put Milwaukee in front. It was all the offense the Brewers would need, though they piled on in the eighth off reliever Tony Watson.

The left-hander picked up his first major league win on Saturday but struggled after getting two quick outs in the eighth. Jonathan Lucroy’s two-run single capped a four-run outburst.

NOTES: Milwaukee OF Carlos Gomez will take batting practice Tuesday for the first time since fracturing his left clavicle while making a diving catch in Arizona on July 20. … Milwaukee 2B Rickie Weeks ran on a treadmill Monday as he continues to recover from a severely sprained ankle. … Pittsburgh catcher Mike McKenry moved to third base in the ninth inning, the first time in his career he’s been on the field but not behind the plate.

Most rebuilding plans in baseball involve patience, long-term thinking and gradual progress. In Milwaukee, Doug Melvin would have none of that.

Shaun Marcum is 11-3 with a 3.40 ERA for the Brewers, who traded touted infielder Brett Lawrie to acquire him.
(Dilip Vishwanat – GETTY IMAGES)
The Brewers’ general manager has made a series of moves with an eye toward contending this year. It might not help the chances of re-signing first baseman Prince Fielder, but while he’s with the Crew, they’ll give it their best shot.

Milwaukee, with 22 wins in its past 25 games, enters its doubleheader Monday at Pittsburgh with an 8 1/2-game lead on second-place St. Louis in the National League Central. The fourth postseason berth is in sight for a franchise that owns one pennant and no World Series titles.

”We’re pitching really well, the defense has been solid and we’re really getting timely hitting,” Manager Ron Roenicke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sunday. “We’re getting contributions from everybody, which is really good. A lot of guys are doing really good things.”

This past offseason, Melvin made bold moves to add right-handers Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum to the rotation. Like the Brewers, Greinke had the short term in mind; he chose to accept a trade to Milwaukee instead of work out a $100 million deal with Washington. Marcum, meanwhile, came at a heavy cost — 21-year-old Canadian-born third baseman Brett Lawrie, who has dazzled in his first 55 at-bats with Toronto (.327 with a .600 slugging percentage).

Melvin will worry about losing Lawrie later. For now, he has the team that’s tied with Atlanta for the second-best record in the NL at 76-52.

Similar thinking enabled Melvin to acquire CC Sabathia on the way to the 2008 postseason, when the team won only one game in its division series against eventual champion Philadelphia. This time, Greinke (12-4, 3.92), righty Yovani Gallardo (13-8, 3.55) and Marcum (11-3, 3.40 ERA) could be a formidable 1-2-3 combination in the playoffs, and lefty Randy Wolf (10-8, 3.45) has pitched well of late.

Several key cogs remain from the 2008 team, including Fielder, second baseman Rickie Weeks and outfielders Ryan Braun and Corey Hart. Francisco Rodriguez, who was tattooed by his former New York Mets teammates Saturday but still managed a win, is another trade acquisition. Center fielder Nyjer Morgan’s “Tony Plush” alter ego is picking up fans in Wisconsin, and Jerry Hairston has been a helpful addition.

Everything seems to be going right for Roenicke’s team. Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw shut down Milwaukee on Thursday, but that’s the Brewers’ only loss in a 10-game stretch in which they’ve turned a triple play and won 1-0, 2-1 (twice), 3-0, 3-1 and 11-9.

Wait till next year? That’s not the idea in Milwaukee.