AUDIO
• NED YOST
• PRINCE FIELDER
• MANNY PARRA
• INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM REPORT

Everyone in the Brewers' clubhouse downplayed the notion that Manny Parra had to be a stopper.  It would be hard to not think that there was at least some pressure on the youngster to stop the Brewers' bleeding.  After all, the Cubs had beaten aces CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets in the previous two games and Chicago was looking to extend its division lead to four games.  Parra could not be the stopper the Crew needed as the Cubs offense once again victimized the Brewers for a 7-2 win at Miller Park.

"Manny kept us in the game going into the sixth inning and we just couldn't get anything going to give him any breathing room," Brewers manager Ned Yost stated.

Parra lasted five and third innings allowed five earned runs on eight hits, walked four, and struck out five.  The Cubs sure seemed to like to repeat history as for the second straight game the Cubs' got a big inning in the sixth. It was not quite the five run inning in the previous game but the Cubs did hang three runs on Parra which knocked him out of the game.  Parra (9-4) took his fourth loss of the season.

"I made some good pitches and they hit them and I made some bad ones and they capitalized on those too," Parra said.

One piece of history that is repeating itself during this series is the Brewers' offense sputtering worse than '88 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra thanks largely to the Cubs starting pitching. 

"The last three games we've been really agressive and throwing a lot of strikes," Cubs' starter Ryan Dempster said.

Dempster shutdown the Crew as he gave up just one run through seven innings.  Dempster (12-4) picked up the win as he allowed five hits, struck out nine, and walked one. 

"When you face a lineup like that, you've got to put the count in your favor as soon as you can in order to have success," Dempster said.  "I just tried to attack and attack as much as possible.  I was happy that I was able to stick to my game plan."

Parra was about the only one who could get anything done at the plate against Dempster as he was 2-2 with a triple.  Getting any sort of offense going seems to be a big issue for the Brewers recently as the Crew is hitting just .051 (3-59) with runners in scoring position over the last eight games.  The Crew is hitting .206 in this series alone with just seven runs on 20 hits.  The Crew has struck out 32 times in this series. 

In comparison, the Cubs have been hitting the ball at will in this series.  The Cubs are hitting .342 with 20 runs on 40 hits.  The Cubs offense once again pounded out the hits in bunches with 14 in this game.  The score could have been a lot worse as the Cubs did strand 15 runners.  Ryan Theriot and Alfonsio Soriano led the way in this one as Theriot went 3-3, with a triple, two walks, three-RBI, and a run.  Soriano was 3-4 with three singles, two walks, and two runs.

"They're hot right now, there's just no way around it," Yost explained.  "They're firing on all cylinders."

The Cubs once again picked up its first runs at the start of the game.  Soriano scored on a wild pitch and Mark DeRosa singled in Derrek Lee.

The Cubs picked up those three six inning runs when Theriot tripled in Dempster and Soriano.  Theriot scored on Reed Johnson's single off reliever Carlos Villanueva.  Johnson ended up with three hits.

"The big one was that triple that Theriot hit into the gap in right-center field," Cubs Manager Lou Piniella said.  "That really got us going on the scoreboard."

Brian Shouse gave up two runs in the ninth as he loaded the bases and walked in the Cubs' sixth run with a free pass to Theriot.  Ronny Cedeno scored the Cubs' final run on a fielder's choice.

The Brewers were able to get a run in the bottom of the first when Ray Durham scored on a wild pitch.  Prince Fielder hit his 21st homer in the ninth off Neal Cotts to right-center for the Brewers other run.

The Cubs improve to 64-44 while the Crew fall four back to Chicago with a 60-48 record.  The finale of the four game set will see Dave Bush (5-8, 4.51 ERA) start for the Brewers and the Cubs will start Rich Harden (0-1, 1.94 ERA with the Cubs).

"We've won three in a row here, let's see if we can finish it off," Piniella said.