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CHICAGO -- Travis Wood got into trouble in the first inning when he walked the bases loaded before retiring Khris Davis on a grounder that kept the game scoreless.Andy Dalton Jersey . After a simple tweak, Wood cruised the rest of the way. The left-hander retired 19 of his final 21 batters and pitched two-hit ball for seven innings as the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 on Sunday. "It was a struggle there in the first," Wood said. "We werent missing bad, but we were missing, so (there was) kind of a minor adjustment I had to make. I was kind of flying open a little bit there in the first after the first or second hitter, so we made it and were able to roll after that." Welington Castillo and Mike Olt homered for the Cubs, who took two of three from the NL Central leaders to win a series for the second time this season. Wood (4-4) allowed two runs and struck out seven. All three of his walks came in the first inning. "When he locates down into the corners, hes really, really effective," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. The Cubs won their first series since taking two of three against the St. Louis Cardinals from May 2-4. "We had some timely hitting. Our pitching has been really good, and weve been able to close out the ballgames we lead," Renteria said. Hector Rondon earned his fifth save in five chances after allowing a leadoff double to Ryan Braun in the ninth for Milwaukees third hit. The Brewers, who began the day with the NLs best record, have scored 11 runs in five games. "He keeps the fastball away well. He throws the cutter inside to right-handers well and mixes in a curveball," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said about Wood. "He commanded the ball well, and were a little bit off offensively. Three hits, just not many guys on base to do things with." Marco Estrada (3-2) gave up four runs and seven hits -- five doubles and two homers -- in five innings. In nine games this season, Estrada has served up 12 home runs, second-most in the majors. "I was terrible, plain and simple. Terrible," Estrada said. "Ive got to figure things out. My off-speed pitches havent been there and thats whats letting me down, that and elevating the fastball when Im not trying to." Castillos two-run shot gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the second. Luis Valbuena scored on Castillos fifth homer after drawing a walk. The Cubs extended their lead to 3-0 in the third after Starlin Castro and Valbuena hit back-to-back doubles with two outs. Olt hit his team-leading ninth homer in the fourth to make it 4-0. He leads NL rookies in home runs. "Ive just gotten some good pitches to hit," Olt said. "As long as Im doing that, then Im happy. The home runs, I guess, have come in bunches. Hopefully I can keep it going." The Brewers got their first hit on Logan Schafers one-out double against Wood in the fifth. Two batters later, Rickie Weeks hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 4-2. The Brewers had been scoreless for 20 straight innings, since the second inning on Friday. "The first inning or two, when you have a pitcher in trouble, you need to get to them early," Roenicke said. NOTES: Renteria said RHP Pedro Strop (groin) is expected to start rehabbing at extended spring training in Arizona soon. ... Cubs OF Nate Schierholtz was out of the lineup. He was hitting .197. "His at-bats have been better, but we havent had the results that we wanted," Renteria said. Ryan Kalish started in right field. ... Brewers RHP Wily Peralta (4-2, 2.05 ERA) will start against Atlanta on Monday. The Cubs have Monday off before beginning a two-game series at home against the New York Yankees. Jermaine Gresham . Hudson pitched into the eighth inning after having eight days between starts, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Miami Marlins 5-3 on Saturday night. Geno Atkins Bengals Jersey . LUCIE, Fla.The BC Lions are close to filling out their coaching staff for the 2014 season. They named Mark Washington as their defensive co-ordinator on Thursday and appear to be closing in on an offensive co-ordinator. Khari Jones and Doug Sams are two of the four remaining candidates in the Lions search. They plan on doing the final rounds of interviews next week, but likely wont make a hire unntil after Christmas. Carlos Dunlap Bengals Jersey. Jones, 42, is currently the quarterback coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was the offensive co-ordinator for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2011. Doug Sams was the Edmonton Eskimos offensive co-ordinator last year. The Lions and former offensive co-ordinator Jacques Chapdelaine mutually agreed to part ways in November. ' ' ' |
