CHICAGO _ A knockout first inning quickly paved the way to another tough start for Jimmy Nelson.
The Chicago Cubs grabbed a five-run lead six batters in against the right-hander and never looked back in beating the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-1, Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.
Jorge Soler's three-run home run was the big blow in the first, and the Cubs were never threatened behind starter Jon Lester as they beat the Brewers for the fourth straight time overall and fifth time in as many meetings on their home field this season.
The game couldn't have started any worse for Nelson. He walked Dexter Fowler and hit Kris Bryant to open, then after getting Anthony Rizzo to fly out, surrendered an RBI single to Ben Zobrist.
Addison Russell fisted another RBI single to right, and Soler followed with a booming 450-foot homer to left-center that gave the Cubs a 5-0 lead six batters into the game.
Jason Heyward blooped a double down the third-base line and even Lester drew a walk to put two more on, but Nelson finally ended the frame by catching Fowler looking at a called third strike.
Nelson threw 49 pitches in the inning, a bad turn of events for a Brewers team with a taxed bullpen following Tuesday's doubleheader sweep.
Milwaukee loaded the bases with two outs in the second against Lester, but Nelson grounded into a forceout. Nelson again hit Bryant with a pitch and gave up a one-out single to Zobrist in the bottom of the frame, but then used a 6-4-3 double play to escape the jam.
The Cubs tacked onto their lead in the third when David Ross hit a solo homer to left that made it 6-0.
Nelson finished his night by retiring the final seven batters he faced. He wound up throwing 49 of his 99 pitches in that initial inning, and four of the six hits he allowed came then as well. He surrendered six earned runs for the third time in four August starts as well.
At 6-13 on the season, Nelson now sports a 4.31 ERA and still has won just once since May 29.
Lester retired 10 straight batters from the second until the sixth, when Keon Broxton led off with a single, stole second and third and then scored on Orlando Arcia's groundout to finally get the Brewers on the board.
Including Tuesday's doubleheader sweep, the Brewers have been outscored by a total of 14-1 by the Cubs in the first three games of the series. They managed just four hits � all singles � on Wednesday.
