Cubs 4, Brewers 3
MILWAUKEE -- The Chicago Cubs kept rolling Sunday, tagging right-hander Kyle Lohse for nine hits in a 4-3 victory, completing a four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
Lohse (5-13) struck out three and walked one but allowed runs in four of the first five innings and was pulled with one out in the fifth.
The short start required another yeoman's effort from Milwaukee's bullpen. Right-hander Tyler Thornburg, who returned from Triple-A Colorado Springs and tossed two shutout innings Friday blanked the Cubs for 1 2/3 Sunday.
Cubs starter Clayton Richard (2-0) was brought back from Triple-A Iowa earlier in the day and made his first start since July 20. He held Milwaukee to a run on five hits while striking out there in six innings of work.
First baseman Anthony Rizzo was 7-for-11 with three home runs in the first three games of the series but went 0-for-4 with an RBI Sunday. He had homered in four consecutive games.
Rizzo grounded into a force at second in the first inning that put Chicago on the board and second baseman Addison Russell made it a 2-0 game with a solo home run in the second.
Milwaukee cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning when second baseman Elian Herrera scored on third baseman Hernan Perez's groundout, but Richard's RBI double in the fourth made it a 3-1 game and the Cubs added another in the fourth on third baseman Kris Bryant's RBI single.
Bryant took second on the play but had to leave the game after hitting his head while sliding.
The Brewers put a scare into the Cubs in the ninth, drawing within a run on Perez's RBI single. But with two on and two out, right-hander Hector Rondon got pinch-hitter Logan Schafer to fly out, locking down his 16th save.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon was ejected in the second inning for arguing with umpires after losing a replay challenge at first base.
It was Maddon's fourth ejection of the season.
NOTES: The Cubs optioned C Taylor Teagarden to Triple-A Iowa Sunday, making room for LHP Clayton Richard, who started against the Brewers, on the roster. Teagarden, 31, was batting .200 (3-for-15) with two RBIs in eight games for the Cubs this season. He was a .294 hitter with four homers and 19 RBIs in 43 games with Iowa. ... Chicago manager Joe Maddon said C Miguel Montero would begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Tennessee on Sunday and could return sometime this week. Montero has been out since July 12 with a sprained left thumb. ... The Brewers are in a stretch of 20 games in as many days and will play 17 of those contests at Miller Park. ... Since the All-Star break, Milwaukee has lost nine of 11 games while scoring a total of 20 runs. The Brewers have scored two or fewer runs in seven of their last eight.