Reds OF Ryan Ludwick sat out Saturday

MILWAUKEE -- Kyle Lohse had the Chicago Cubs hitting harmless groundballs early in counts. He threw in the occasional fastball to keep batters off balance. The Cubs struggled at the plate with the Milwaukee Brewers veteran locked in with his slider and sinker. Lohse allowed just three hits in a complete game shutout, and Ryan Braun had a two-run homer in the first inning of a 9-0 rout against the Cubs on Sunday. Milwaukee pounded Cubs ace Jeff Samardzija (1-5) for eight earned runs in three innings, raising his ERA from 1.68 to 2.54. "I figured it would be low-scoring on both ends. I knew Kyle had a good chance of keeping them down and I didnt expect to get a lot of runs off Samardzija. Great offence," manager Ron Roenicke said. Braun homered to left on the first pitch he saw from Samardzija, and the Brewers rolled from there with Samardzija having trouble locating his fastball. Lyle Overbay broke the game open with a three-run double in the third. Even Lohse had success at the plate with an RBI single to drive in Overbay to make it 8-0 for the pitchers second run-scoring hit of the game. Lohse (7-1) needed just 93 pitches in tossing his eighth career shutout. "Its fun to go out there and help out, add on, but thats not my main job," Lohse said about his 2 for 3 day with the bat. "My main job was to go out there and get us deep in the game, and I take a little more pride in that." With Lohses pitch count at just 83 pitches after eight innings, Roenicke wasnt even thinking about pulling the veteran. "I didnt even go talk to him. When you see that kind of game and the pitch count that low, its impressive," the skipper said. One of the few highlights for Chicago was Brian Schlitters single to lead off the seventh for the relievers first major league hit. Otherwise it was a frustrating day for the last-place Cubs. They lost their 14th straight series on the road, a streak dating to last September. Samardzijas "command wasnt the best today, but it was just one of those days for him," manager Rick Renteria said. "I think very rare." The eight earned runs allowed were as many as Samardzija had given up in his previous six starts. Scooter Gennett had two doubles off Samardzija before hitting his third homer of the year in the fifth off reliever Justin Grimm. Gennetts first double exemplified the Cubs afternoon. A high fly to shallow left-centre in the second fell in between backpedaling shortstop Starlin Castro and charging outfielder Junior Lake, who looked away in frustration as Gennett hustled into second. "You have to take advantage of mistakes against a good pitcher like that. When a team makes mistakes like that, you have to jump on it," Braun said. Two innings later, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was ejected by home plate umpire Jerry Meals for arguing a called third strike and Chicago trailing by eight. The left-handed slugger turned to face Meals and pointed angrily with his left arm at the ground before being sent back to the dugout by Renteria. "I said my peace and I definitely understand why I got ejected," Rizzo said. "Im going to move on." Braun hit his ninth homer of the year and second in three days. The Brewers hope it might be a sign that hes over the right oblique injury that sidelined him for two weeks in May. Notes: Chicago planned to give Luis Valbuena a couple days off as a precaution after Renteria said the infielder was "a little tired, a little sore" with what he described as an abdominal ailment. ... Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez (hamstring) went 0 for 2 and fielded a grounder in four innings in his first game of a two-day rehab stint at the teams Class A affiliate in Appleton. ... ... Chicago is off Monday and opens a three-game series Tuesday against the visiting New York Mets. RH Matt Garza (2-4) starts Monday when Milwaukee welcomes the Minnesota Twins for a two-game series. Cheap Vapormax 2019 China .C. -- Colin Kaepernick raced into the end zone, then pretended to rip open his shirt with both hands imitating Cam Newtons Superman touchdown celebration. Nike VaporMax Plus Bleached Aqua Black+Bleached Aqua-Vivid Sulfur . Pressley missed all of last season with Cincinnati because of a knee injury, but the 5-foot-10, 249-pounder had been expected to fill a need on Clevelands roster. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/cheap-v...-clearance.html. - A late-game interception by defensive back Malcolm Butler saved the Super Bowl for the New England Patriots. Nike Air VaporMax Flyknit Black Anthracite . According to Dave Stubbs of The Montreal Gazette, preliminary talks have begun between Markov - an unrestricted free agent this summer - and general manager Marc Bergevin. Wholesale Vapormax 2019 . -- Pelicans coach Monty Williams does not expect guard Eric Gordon to play in any of New Orleans final five games this season.CHICAGO -- Rick Renteria prefers positive reinforcement, usually taking the approach of building up his players. But following another loss and ho-hum effort on Friday, the new Chicago Cubs manager had seen enough and let the players know their intensity and focus was unacceptable. "I think when Ricky talks and shows emotion, it means something," Darwin Barney said. "He doesnt do it every often. We know hes got our back and hes on our side. When he shows a little fire, it usually works." It certain did Saturday. Barney and Welington Castillo hit two-run homers and Mike Olt added a solo shot as the Cubs broke out of a weeklong offensive funk and beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-4. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Cubs. Since scoring four times last Sunday in St. Louis, the Cubs had managed just one run before beating the Reds. Cincinnati had won 16 of the last 17 at Wrigley Field. "I think the intensity was better," Renteria said. "Obviously, the results were better. But had the results not been there, I think the way they went about it was significantly better than yesterday." Emilio Bonifacio had three hits and scored a pair of runs for the Cubs. Junior Lake, Starlin Castro and Justin Ruggiano each drove in a run. Edwin Jackson (1-1) allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. "He battled and got into a little trouble there," Renteria said. "But all in all, he kept working. ... He showed some intensity and he showed some fight." Tony Cingrani (1-2) gave up three runs in five innings. Jay Bruce went 3 for 3 with a walk for the Reds. "Ive been battling myself the last couple of starts and Im just trying to find that command and my consistent mechanics," Cingrani said. "It just hasnt been working that well the lasst couple of starts.dddddddddddd" Bonifacio led off the bottom of the first with a single, went to second on a walk to Lake and came home on a single by Ruggiano. Olt stretched the lead to 2-0 when he led off the second with his third homer of the season, and Castro drove in Bonifacio in the third to make it 3-0. Jackson kept Cincinnati off the board until the sixth, when Devin Mesoraco doubled home Bruce. Zack Cozart made it 3-2 with an RBI grounder. Barney homered in the bottom of the sixth, the first shot of the season for the light-hitting second baseman. Lake added an RBI single later in the inning. An error by Olt at first base on a routine grounder helped the Reds score twice in the seventh. Castillo homered in the bottom half. "The guys hit the ball well when we needed it," Renteria said. "They picked us up a little bit." NOTES: Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo left the game in the eighth inning with back spasms. He said tweaked it stretching for a pickoff throw and has had similar issues in the past. "I felt a little bit of it (Friday)," he said. "With this, itll probably be gone tomorrow or the next day. Its weird." . Reds 2B Brandon Phillips was back in the lineup after leaving Fridays game in the third inning because of back spasms. "As far as I know he didnt have any lower back issues until he took that swing off (Jeff) Samardzija, so my feeling is once he gets past that he wont have to do anything to maintain it," manager Bryan Price said. ... Reds OF Ryan Ludwick sat out Saturday after fouling a ball off his left foot during Fridays game and sustaining a bruised toe. X-rays were negative, but Price is not certain when Ludwick will be able to play. ... Reds RHP Homer Bailey (0-1) faces RHP Carlos Villanueva (1-3) in the series finale on Sunday. ' ' '