Cubs go for sweep over Brewers (Apr 28, 2018)

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs offense has been feast or famine so far this season.

But as the Cubs attempt to get rolling, manager Joe Maddon expects his team's bats to heat up sooner or later.

The Cubs got two major contributors back Saturday when third baseman Kris Bryant returned after missing four games after being struck in the helmet by a 96-mph fastball last weekend in Colorado. Utility man Ben Zobrist also was activated off the 10-day disabled list on Saturday.

As they move closer to being fully healthy, the Cubs continue to produce just enough offense and they will go for a series sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

After the Brewers entered the four-game series on an eight-game winning streak the Cubs have held Milwaukee in check by allowing just two runs over the first two games, including in Saturday's 3-0 victory that produced Chicago's first three-game winning streak of the season.

Bryant, who went 0-for-3 with a walk Saturday, told reporters being hit provided him with a different perspective moving forward.

"Any time you feel you can't get out of the way of a ball, you feel helpless," Bryant said. "That was how I felt. It was going to hit me one way or another. It could've been a lot worse. I'm pretty thankful I was only out four games."

Right-hander Tyler Chatwood (1-3, 3.74 ERA) is coming off his first victory of the season when he limited the Cleveland Indians to one run and four hits over six innings on Tuesday. Up to that point, Chatwood had struggled like many of the Cubs starters this season but showed promising signs of improving. Chatwood is 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA in four career starts against the Brewers.

The Brewers have yet to get any offense rolling at Wrigley Field and were shut out for the fifth time this season and their fourth against the Cubs. Milwaukee just managed two hits and struck out 10 times in Saturday's setback.

Right-hander Zach Davies (2-2, 4.45) will start for the Brewers and try to win his third straight start. He pitched 6 1/3 innings in a 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on April 18 and followed it up by allowing two runs on four hits in six innings in a 5-2 win at Kansas City on Tuesday.

Davies is 5-4 in 11 career starts with a 3.68 ERA against the Cubs, whom he held to one run and four hits in a no-decision April 7 in Milwaukee.

The Brewers will need to make a decision regarding their starting rotation over the next two days when they will have to decide on whether to add veteran left-hander Wade Miley to the big-league roster.

Miley, who sustained a groin injury the final week of spring training, finished off a three-start minor league stint when he struck out 11 in six scoreless innings for Double-A Biloxi Friday. The Brewers could option Brent Suter or Saturday starter Junior Guerra to the minors, but both have performed well with the Brewers with Miley sidelined.

"We've got a decision to make," general manager David Stearns told reporters Saturday. "We're going to talk about it over the next 24-48 hours, and we'll go from there. I think we've got a good understanding of what the timeframe is. Look, Wade did his job. He's healthy and pitching well. We've also got some guys here who are pitching pretty well. So we need to talk through all of that. The good news is our starting group has come through very nicely. Having difficult decisions like this is a good thing."