Rookie hits grand slam in Brewers win

Chicago Cubs right-hander Chris Volstad simply can't catch a break.

Volstad matched Milwaukee's Shaun Marcum for five innings Saturday before giving up five runs in the sixth inning and the Brewers went on to beat the Cubs 8-2.

It was the 18th straight start in which Volstad (0-5) did not record a victory, with his last win coming on July 17, 2011, for Florida. Volstad gave up six runs on nine hits against the Brewers.

''It's been the experience for every game,'' he said. ''I've done so well except for one inning. It's hard to pinpoint the difference.''

The difference in the sixth inning was the grand slam he gave up to Brewers reserve infielder Edwin Maysonet on the second pitch of the at-bat - only the second homer of Maysonet's career.

Volstad called it ''not a terrible pitch.''

''Just not as far in as the first one and he made a great adjustment on it,'' he said.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Volstad pitched a good game, but it got away from him in the sixth.

''The slider got him in trouble again,'' he said. ''That is something we've got to work on because it's a pitch he needs, but it's getting hit too often and too hard.''

The last pitcher to go at least 18 starts without a victory was Jo-Jo Reyes, who pitched 28 straight without a win from June 18, 2008 to May 25, 2011.

Sveum said the Cubs were also stymied by Marcum, who gave up just one run and three hits in seven strong innings.

''He always is (tough to hit),'' Sveum said. ''He's got four pitches and he's got command of them all so he can expose things and he did a great job of it today.''

It was the second straight win for the Brewers, who beat the Cubs in 13 innings Friday in a 5-hour game that ended just past midnight. Saturday's start remained at noon because it was a nationally televised game.

The Cubs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when David DeJesus scored on Starlin Castro's double-play groundout.

The Brewers tied it in the bottom half as Nyjer Morgan came home when Ryan Braun got caught in a rundown while trying to steal second base.

Milwaukee broke the game open in the sixth inning. Jonathan Lucroy, who led off with a double, scored on Aramis Ramirez's fielder's choice. Corey Hart doubled to the left field wall and the Cubs walked Travis Ishikawa to load the bases.

Maysonet then hit the second pitch from Volstad into the second level in left field.

Maysonet was in the lineup because Brewers starting second baseman Rickie Weeks was resting his sore wrist. Weeks was hit on the left wrist in the 13th inning Friday. X-rays were negative and Weeks is listed as day to day.

''I'm just trying to get a good fastball that I can hit a line drive because I am not a home run hitter,'' Maysonet said. ''You can see my stats.''

Tony Campana's RBI double in the eighth inning cut it to 6-2 for the Cubs, but Norichika Aoki's suicide squeeze and Lucroy's RBI single in the bottom of the inning pushed the Brewers ahead 8-2.

Notes: The Cubs put RHP Carlos Marmol on the 15-day disabled list after he suffered a strained right hamstring Friday. The Cubs called up Casey Coleman from Triple-A Iowa. ... Both teams were warned in the second inning after Marcum hit Alfonso Soriano with his first pitch. Braun had been drilled in the back by Volstad in the first inning. ... Bryan LaHair's sixth inning single extended his streak of reaching base safely to 29 games, the longest in the NL this season.