CHICAGO _ Cole Hamels survived a rough start to pitch six strong innings Saturday afternoon, but the Cubs offense was nowhere to be found in a 2-0 loss to the Brewers at Wrigley Field.
Brewers starter Zach Davies and five relievers pitched a shutout, limiting the Cubs to six hits and snapping their four-game winning streak.
With the Cardinals beating the Reds in the first game of a doubleheader in St. Louis, the Cubs fell 2 games behind the Cardinals. The Cubs finished the month of August with a 16-12 record.
Manny Pina's two-run, bases-loaded single off Hamels in the first was all the offense the Brewers needed to even the series at a game apiece.
Four of the first five batters Hamels faced reached base. Ben Gamel led off with a double, and Christian Yelich and Yasmani Grandal drew one-out walks. Pina singled on a change-up to make it 2-0. Hamels got out of the inning without any further damage, and he allowed three hits the rest of the way before being removed after six innings and 96 pitches.
The Cubs welcomed Anthony Rizzo back to the lineup, and he contributed a pair of hits in his first game in a week. But Davies and the Brewers' bullpen stymied the Cubs, who had only a few scoring opportunities and failed to convert on them.
Javier Baez flied out to center with two men on to end the first, Jason Heyward and Nicholas Castellanos lined out with a runner on second in the fifth, and Addison Russell hit a comebacker to reliever Junior Guerra with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth. The Cubs were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.
Brewers closer Josh Hader was brought in to face Rizzo in the eighth and watched shortstop Orlando Arcia rob Rizzo of a third hit with a diving catch of a sharp line drive up the middle.
The Cubs' Yu Darvish will face left-hander Gio Gonzalez in series finale Sunday, when Ben Zobrist is expected to make his long-awaited return to the Cubs.
