Cubs club Brewers despite another Prior injury

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Glendon Rusch did his part to help Chicago's injury-riddled pitching staff.

Rusch filled in for Mark Prior with five solid innings and the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-4 Sunday for their third straight win.

Prior was scratched before the game with a strained muscle in his left side, suffered while he was taking batting practice Saturday. The team said it was too early to decide whether the injury would put the right-hander on the disabled list for the seventh time in his five-year career.

"That hurts, big time, because he was just starting to come around," Chicago manager Dusty Baker said.

It was tough news for the Cubs, who learned Saturday that Kerry Wood could miss the rest of the season with a partial tear in his right rotator cuff.

Rusch (3-7) allowed two runs and four hits in his first start since June 16. He struck out five and walked two.

"He gave us all he had, he hadn't gone that far in a long time," Baker said.

Aramis Ramirez hit his 16th homer and went 3-for-4, Jacque Jones finished with three hits and scored two runs, and Matt Murton had two RBI for Chicago.

The Cubs head into the All-Star break in fifth place in the NL Central with a 34-54 record but they're hoping their winning streak will lead to bigger things in the second half.

"I look at this series here definitely being good for us," said Rusch, who found out he was starting when he arrived at Miller Park on Sunday morning. "Other than (Chris) Capuano shutting us out, I think we played pretty well here. Hopefully, this will carry over after these four off days."

Jones was one of the few productive Cubs in the first half, batting .306 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI. He said Baker shouldn't be blamed for the team's poor start.

"The manager, man, he got us prepared to play," he said. "He can't throw, and he can't hit, and he can't field, and he can't do any of that for us.

"We played as bad as we could play in the first half. It had nothing to do with him. All we can do is try to go out and right the ship."

With the break following Sunday's game, Baker was able to use six relievers over the final four innings.

"We'll take a little rest and continue where we left off," Baker said. "It's always good to go into (the break) with a winning streak."

Four of the six walks issued by Brewers starter Doug Davis (5-6) scored. The left-hander pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs and seven hits with four strikeouts.

"There's an old saying (that) walks will kill you," Davis said. "They killed us today. When I made pitches, they hit it. They had my number today."

The Cubs scored three runs in the sixth to take a 7-2 lead. Pinch-hitter Phil Nevin walked with the bases loaded and Pierre followed with a two-run double down the left-field line.

Murton added an RBI single in the seventh and Angel Pagan's homer gave the Cubs a 9-2 lead in the eighth.

Rickie Weeks hit a solo homer and Carlos Lee had a two-run drive for the Brewers. Lee's 26th homer in the eighth cut the Chicago lead to 9-4.

The Cubs trailed 2-1 when Ramirez led off the fourth with a homer. Michael Barrett then walked, Jones doubled and Murton's sacrifice fly gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead.

Ronny Cedeno followed with a perfect suicide squeeze bunt, scoring Jones to make it 4-2.

Game notes
Prior was winless in four starts since returning from the DL with a strained muscle in his right shoulder. He only has made 101 starts in five seasons. ... Brewers LHP Chris Capuano was named to the NL All-Star team before Sunday's game, replacing Tom Glavine of the New York Mets. ... Brewers LHP Jorge de la Rosa made his third rehab start Saturday night, pitching five innings for Double-A Huntsville, allowing one unearned run and three hits without a walk. He struck out one and received the victory in the win over Birmingham. ... The three-game winning streak for the Cubs matches their season high, accomplished three other times. ... The four-game series drew 162,294 fans, with the final three games listed as sellouts. ... RHP Tomo Ohka made his second rehab start Sunday, pitching six innings for Single-A Brevard County against Palm Beach. He gave up one unearned run and six hits.