![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/ryan-braun-brewers-871.jpg\")
<\/a>Chicago was unable to muster up a single run in last night\u2019s 2-0 defeat at Miller Park and is now in jeopardy of getting swept.\u00a0 The Cubs are now 4-5 in the season series, including a 1-4 mark on the road.\u00a0 Playing against divisional foes has been a losing venture for the club, entering today with a dismal 15-26 mark.\u00a0 One player that has not suffered from the team\u2019s dismal performance is third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who leads the Cubs with nine home runs and 22 RBI in July.\u00a0 On the other side, the starting staff has tallied nine quality starts in its last 12 outings and posted a 1.79 ERA in those nine efforts.\u00a0 Chicago is 31-29 following a loss this year and 3-3 after getting shutout.<\/p>\n
Cubs starting pitcher Randy Wells is 2-3 with a 6.17 ERA in 11 starts this season and broke a two-game losing streak last time out.\u00a0 He tallied a 5-1 home win in that effort over the Astros, surrendering just a single run and five hits over six innings.\u00a0 Wells has yet to taste victory away from Wrigley Field, entering with a disappointing 0-1 record and 8.50 ERA in four outings, as opponents are hitting .342 against him.\u00a0 The right-hander has made nine lifetime appearances (seven starts) versus the Brewers, posting an even 2-2 mark and 4.32 ERA, including a no-decision effort at home on June 14.\u00a0 In that outing, he gave up four runs and five hits over six frames in a 5-4 win by Chicago.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee leads the NL Central by the slimmest of margins and trails only Philadelphia for the best home record in baseball.\u00a0 The bullpen has become a major strength for the club since the acquisition of reliever Francisco Rodriguez from the Mets, but the team will also have to deal with the loss of a major offensive weapon in the lineup.\u00a0 All-Star second baseman Rickie Weeks will be placed on the 15-day disabled list today, suffering a left ankle injury in the second inning of last night\u2019s game.\u00a0 Fellow All-Stars Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder will need to raise the levels of their already high offensive production, combining for 142 RBI this year.\u00a0 Milwaukee is 22-17 against divisional foes this year.<\/p>\n
Brewers starting pitcher Shaun Marcum is 9-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 21 starts this season and has won back-to-back outings.\u00a0 The right-hander has given up just four runs and eight hits over 12 innings of work in that span.\u00a0 Even with his recent success, Marcum has still given up at least one home run in seven consecutive starts.\u00a0 He has grown accustomed to his new surroundings at Miller Park, posting a 4-1 record and 4.35 ERA in 10 outings.\u00a0 The former Toronto Blue Jays hurler will be facing the Cubs for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n
Bettors will likely back the Cubs due to their 16-7 mark after losing the first two games of a series, while the Brewers are 1-5 in Marcum\u2019s last six efforts as a favorite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers close out a three-game series in the NL Central Thursday afternoon at Miller Park Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers Chicago was unable to muster up a single run in last night\u2019s 2-0 defeat at Miller Park and is now in jeopardy of getting swept.\u00a0 The Cubs are now 4-5 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":5035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444],"tags":[2197,180,266,2324,997,1563,978,1954],"class_list":["post-16674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-aramis-ramirez","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-national-league-central","tag-prince-fielder","tag-randy-wells","tag-ryan-braun","tag-shaun-marcum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16674"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16675,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16674\/revisions\/16675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}