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Brewers get 26 hits in 18-1 win over Cubs

Aug 3, 2010 - 4:42 AM CHICAGO(AP) -- After a rough weekend at the plate, Ryan Braun and his teammates will certainly want to savor Monday night's offensive outburst.

Prince Fielder drove in five runs and had five of Milwaukee's season-high 26 hits and Yovani Gallardo tied a season-high with 12 strikeouts as the Brewers pounded the Chicago Cubs 18-1.

Braun also had five hits for Milwaukee, which snapped a five-game losing streak. Casey McGhee had a three-run homer and Fielder had a three-run double.

"The team as a whole swung the bat really well," Braun said. "It's weird, to be honest with you. It's not something that happens very often, if ever. You try to be in the moment and enjoy it and then realize you have to move on to the next day."

Corey Hart finished with four hits for the Brewers.

The Cubs tied a franchise record for hits allowed, matching Sept. 2, 1957, when they lost to the Milwaukee Braves.

"Nothing worked. They certainly hit some balls hard and they found some holes and they did everything. We got our butts kicked, that's for sure," said Alan Trammell, who is managing the team while Lou Piniella attends funeral services for his uncle in Florida.

Gallardo (10-5) allowed one run and two hits over six innings.

"You expect it because he's our ace, our best pitcher. We don't expect anything less from him. He threw the ball very well tonight," Braun said.

The Cubs have lost a season-high six straight, several of them in embarrassing fashion. On Friday night, the Cubs lost 17-2 to Colorado, which was highlighted by a 12-run eighth inning when the Rockies brought 18 batters to the plate.

Trammell agreed the game was embarrassing for the Cubs, who dropped to a season-low 14 games under .500 (46-60).

"Oh yeah. Absolutely. It's not what you're looking for and it doesn't taste very well. No question about it," he said.

During the six-game skid, the Cubs have been outscored 62-17.

The Brewers scored five runs and had seven hits off Cubs starter Randy Wells (5-9) in the fourth inning.

"In all reality it (stinks) to get beat up like that but I don't think it is anything to start looking into," Wells said. "I just had a bad start tonight."

After scoring two runs in a three-game series against Houston, the Brewers broke out against an overmatched pitching staff.

On Monday night, the Brewers batted around against the Cubs in consecutive innings. They brought 10 batters to the plate in the fourth and fifth innings.

"I can't explain it. McGehee's home run was huge. That got us going. For me to sit down and explain all of that, I don't know. Maybe it's because we didn't take BP (batting practice) yesterday," Brewers manager Ken Macha said.

Alcides Escobar had three hits and McGhee had four RBIs for Milwaukee.

The only hits against Gallardo were doubles by rookie Starlin Castro.

Chicago finished with four hits, all doubles.

After pinch-running for Jim Edmonds in the sixth, Carlos Gomez was hit by a pitch in seventh, then was hit on the helmet by a fastball from Brian Schlitter in the eighth. Gomez hit the deck after getting hit in the eighth and a trainer tended to him before he walked to the dugout. Gomez did not return to the game and went to the hospital after the game for a CT Scan.

NOTES: Before the game, the Brewers agreed to a $26.5 million, three-year contract extension through 2013 with Hart, rewarding the outfielder for a turnaround season that included a trip to the All-Star game. ... Cubs placed RHP Carlos Silva on the DL for cardiac evaluation. In place of Silva, the Cubs purchased the contract of RHPs Thomas Diamond and Casey Coleman from Triple-A Iowa. Diamond is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Brewers and Coleman will work out of the bullpen.