Josh Vitters hits 1st career homer, but Cubs lose 9-5 to Brewers

The Cubs lose 9-5 to the Milwaukee Brewers at Miler Park Monday night.  Justin Germano made the start for the Cubs and allowed seven runs over eight hits while walking one and striking out three batters over 4.2 innings pitched.  Germano was tagged with the loss and now has a 2-3 record.

David DeJesus and Anthony Rizzo both doubled in the first inning to put the Cubs on the board and the Cubs were looking good with a 3-1 lead.

Things continued to look sharp for the Cubs as third baseman Josh Vitters hit his first career homer in the fifth inning.  But it all went downhill after that, when the Brewers scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth. 

Corey Hart started it off with a two-run single to give the Brewers a 4-3 lead.  Then Jeff Beliveau came in to pitch in relief and gave up a three-run homer to Jonathan Lucroy, which was his second HR of the game.  Beliveau then went on to serve up a solo homer to Carlos Gomez to give the Brewers an 8-3 lead. 

The Cubs have now lost 16 of their last 20 games since July 31st, when Ryan Dempster was traded just before the trade deadline.  The team is currently on pace to lose 99 games this season.  Ouch! 

Josh Vitters hit his first career homer on Monday night against the Brewers (US Presswire photo)

Tomorrow the Cubs and Brewers will play the second game of the three-game series at 7:10pm CT.  Left-handed pitcher Chris Rusin will make his first career start and will also be the team's 11th starter this season.  Rusin has given up four earned runs over 18 2/3 innings pitched over his last three starts at Triple-A Iowa and has a 4.59 ERA in 24 starts this season.

Rusin is getting the opportunity to start because the Cubs have used all five starters over four days, due to the doubleheader on Saturday in Cincinnati.  So, Rusin is stepping in to help ensure the rotation gets the rest inbetween starts that is needed.  When manager Dale Sveum was asked to commment on Rusin, he said,  “He’ll just get that one for now and as we move forward we’ll see what’s going on."