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Brewers-Cubs Preview

Jul 2, 2009 - 5:53 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Milwaukee (42-36) at Chicago (37-38), 8:05 p.m. EDT

After going more than two months without being shut out, the Milwaukee Brewers have been blanked twice in the last four days.

Perhaps now they can sympathize with the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs hope a return to Wrigley Field will help them snap out of a lengthy offensive funk, especially with the first-place Brewers in town for the first time this year to open a four-game set Thursday night.

Milwaukee had a chance to sweep each of its last two series, but lost 7-0 to San Francisco on Sunday and 1-0 to the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon.

After scoring a combined 16 runs in their first two games against the Mets, the Brewers (42-36) wasted a seven-inning, 12-strikeout effort from Yovani Gallardo in the finale. They went 0 for 7 with men in scoring position.

"We're in first place. That's all that really matters," outfielder Ryan Braun told the Brewers' official Web site. "We're playing well right now, and I think a lot of guys are starting to put together some quality at-bats. We're in pretty good shape."

The Cubs can't make the same claim. They've scored 129 runs since May 19, fewest in the majors over that span, and suffered six shutout losses to tie Atlanta for the most in that stretch. Chicago went 16-23 in those 39 games.

Last year, the Cubs (37-38) led the NL with 855 runs.

Despite its problems at the plate, Chicago is 3 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the tightly bunched NL Central. Thanks to some strong pitching, the Cubs took two of three from Pittsburgh this week even though they managed seven runs in the series.

Their starting lineup Wednesday featured four players who began the year at Triple-A Iowa. One of them, recent callup Sam Fuld, batted leadoff and got his first two major league hits.

"It's nice to see guys get a chance, come up and contribute," right-hander Randy Wells said.

Chicago's offensive woes are a major reason why Ryan Dempster went 0-2 in his five June starts. He had a 3.23 ERA in the month, but received 2.35 runs of support per nine innings as the Cubs lost all five games.

Chicago scored plenty of runs during his last outing Friday against the White Sox, but Dempster (4-5, 4.09 ERA) gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings of an 8-7 loss. He didn't get the decision.

Dempster entered the year with an 8-2 record and 2.45 ERA in 35 appearances against Milwaukee, but he is 1-1 with a 5.84 ERA in two starts versus the Brewers in 2009.

The Cubs and Brewers split their first six meetings of the season, all at Miller Park. Milwaukee was 5-4 at Wrigley last year, an impressive mark considering Chicago went 55-26 at home.

Seth McClung (3-1, 3.55) will be making his first career start against the Cubs, although he has pitched 5 1-3 innings of relief versus Chicago this year. He held the Cubs to a .177 average while posting a 2.55 ERA in 10 career relief appearances despite walking 10 in 17 2-3 innings.

"It's fun anytime you play in the division against a team that's good, especially against a team that everyone picked to win it," McClung said.

Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano, given Wednesday off after going 0 for 7 in the previous two games, is 1 for 15 with six strikeouts against McClung.

McClung pitched four innings and allowed three runs in his first start of the year Saturday against San Francisco, with the Brewers winning 7-6. The right-hander made 28 relief appearances before joining the rotation.