Peralta struggles as Milwaukee Brewers lose 6-1 to Chicago Cubs in finale of 4-game series

CHICAGO — Unfortunately for the Milwaukee Brewers, the rain stopped just in time for Edwin Jackson to return to the mound.

Jonathan Lucroy had two doubles, but the Brewers struggled against Jackson in a 6-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.

"When his command's on, he's going to throw a good game," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "He had good command today. I think the last four or five games, he's thrown the ball really well."

Jackson remained in the game after the 66-minute delay and pitched eight solid innings in his longest outing of the season. He allowed one run and eight hits, struck out four and walked none.

"That guy's known for just eating up innings, I wasn't surprised at all," Lucroy said when asked about Jackson's return. "He throws a lot of pitches, he stays in there, he's a grinder. Traditionally he's been a strike-thrower and innings-eater in the past, so I wasn't surprised at all."

David DeJesus drove in three runs and Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer as Chicago closed out a 14-13 July, its first winning calendar month since it went 15-10 last July. Starlin Castro had two hits, including a solo homer.

DeJesus had an RBI single in the fourth and singled home two more in the sixth. He is batting .355 (11 for 31) in nine games since coming off the disabled list.

Lucroy drove in Rickie Weeks with a grounder down the first-base line in the eighth. Jeff Bianchi and Caleb Gindl also had two hits apiece for the Brewers.

Wily Peralta (7-11) allowed four runs, three earned, and five hits in five innings. He was coming off a rough start at Colorado, when he was charged with five earned runs and seven hits in 3 2-3 innings.

"I think I had a better slider than last time," Peralta said. "Off-speed was good too, but I hang a couple of them and I paid for it."

The Cubs bounced back from a frustrating doubleheader sweep on Tuesday, when they blew late leads in each game. They also dropped the series opener on Monday when the Brewers scored five times in the ninth inning of a 5-0 victory.

Rizzo went deep in the third, driving a 3-1 pitch over the wall in center for his 15th homer — matching his career high set a year ago. Castro connected an inning later, making it 3-0 with a drive to the bleachers in left.

The six runs were more than enough for Jackson (7-11), who finished July with a 3-1 record and a 1.83 ERA in five starts.

The Brewers got a runner to third in the third, fourth and fifth innings and failed to score each time. Lucroy was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Julio Borbon when he tried to score from second on Gindl's base hit in the fourth.

Chicago and Milwaukee, the two worst teams in the NL Central, did not make a trade on a quiet deadline day throughout baseball. The Cubs (49-58) and Cardinals talked about veteran catcher Dioner Navarro, but he was still in Chicago at the end of the night.

"I think one thing is obvious from today, if you look around the league, is that people hold real tight to their young players," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. "We need to get a lot more of them. That part isn't going to change."

Milwaukee (46-62) traded reliever Francisco Rodriguez to Baltimore last week for minor league infielder Nick Delmonico, but that was it for July. There was thought to be further interest in its bullpen, namely left-hander Mike Gonzalez.

"That's fine with me," Roenicke said. "I know with just moving Frankie how much it's changed what I have to do, you know, with the bullpen. It's hard. It's hard when you lose guys."