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Cubs take series from Brewers behind Marquis

Jul 2, 2007 - 12:53 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Jason Marquis earned his first win in nearly two months as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1, on Sunday.

It was Chicago's eighth win in its last nine games, as the Cubs took two of three from their National League Central Division rivals.

Marquis (6-4) pitched seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits. The righthander struck out five and walked just one. The lone run he allowed was a solo home run by Corey Hart, leading off the sixth inning.

"This definitely was one of my best games in a while," Marquis said. "In my last bullpen session I worked on my mechanics. My plan was to attack the strike zone early, and make good pitches low in the zone."

It was Marquis' first win since May 9 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a span of nine starts.

"I thought Marquis did a great job of keeping us out of this ballgame," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "Our guy pitched well, Marquis was that much better."

Carlos Marmol pitched the final two innings for the Cubs, allowing just one hit and striking out four.

The Cubs gave Marquis two quick runs to work with in the first inning off Brewers starter David Bush (1-5). Ryan Theriot doubled, Derrek Lee singled and both scored on a double by Aramis Ramirez.

Bush allowed four runs on four hits in six innings, striking out five and walking two.

"I felt pretty good, there is not a whole lot to be disappointed about other than the result," Bush said. "There is a couple of pitches I would like to have back, but not too many."

Theriot finished with three doubles on the day.

"We rested Ryan a little bit this week," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "You could see the difference in his bat speed today."

Chicago added two more runs in the third inning. Theriot doubled, then Lee singled him home. Lee later scored on a Mark DeRosa single.

"No game in June is as big as a playoff game," DeRosa said. "This game was our biggest one of the year, we came out and answered the bell."

The Cubs scored their final run in the seventh inning off righthander Matt Wise. Theriot led off with his third double and later scored on a double play by Ramirez, who finished with two RBI.