MILWAUKEE | Carlos Zambrano outpitched fellow ace Ben Sheets again, and the Chicago Cubs scored five runs in the sixth inning to beat Milwaukee 7-1 on Tuesday night, assuring they'll leave town leading the NL Central.
Zambrano (12-4) was brilliant in eight scoreless innings, striking out a season-high nine while scattering five hits and two walks to lift the Cubs to their sixth win in the last eight games in Milwaukee.
In a much-hyped series between the NL's top teams, Chicago pushed its division lead to three games and left the Brewers, losers of four of their last five, empty after pitching aces CC Sabathia and Sheets.
Chicago got to Sheets (10-4) with seven straight hits to start the sixth inning, sending 10 batters to the plate to break open a 1-0 game.
Derrek Lee singled and Aramis Ramirez, who had four hits, doubled to the wall to bring up struggling Kosuke Fukudome. He flared a ball to left field that Ryan Braun tried to catch with an ill-advised dive.
Braun, who doesn't have an error this year after committing 26 at third base last season, missed badly and the ball rolled to the wall, leaving Fukudome with a two-run triple.
Mark DeRosa singled through a drawn-in infield to make it 4-0 and Braun couldn't catch a soft fly ball by Mike Fontenot or make a play on a sharply hit one by Geovany Soto that loaded the bases.
Zambrano then hit a chopper to shortstop, but J.J. Hardy's throw hit DeRosa in the back, scoring another run. Alfonso Soriano's sacrifice fly made it 6-0 and chased Sheets. Each team scored a run in the ninth for the final margin.
Zambrano, who followed Sheets to the mound in the All-Star game two weeks ago, clearly has the advantage head-to-head. In six matchups, Zambrano improved to 4-1.
Milwaukee, which has scored one run against Zambrano in the last 21 innings, failed to capitalize on its limited chances against the right-hander, putting just one runner on second against him.
In the second inning, Zambrano worked out of a two-on, none-out jam by freezing Russell Branyan with a changeup, overpowering Mike Cameron with a fastball and getting Jason Kendall, his former catcher, to ground out weakly.
Zambrano also worked around a leadoff single by Braun in the fourth and a leadoff walk by Cameron in the fifth.
Chicago, now 24-30 on the road, certainly has a home 90 miles north of Wrigley Field. The Cubs are seven games over .500 since Miller Park opened in 2001 and always have a large contingent of fans.
For the second straight night, Chicago struck first, too.
In the fourth, Ramirez, who finished 4-for-5, hit the first of his three doubles. Sheets uncorked a wild pitch that deflected off Kendall and put Ramirez on third, and DeRosa brought him in with a sacrifice fly moments later.
Zambrano also showed off his fiery emotions in the fifth. After Soto's leadoff single, Zambrano popped out on an attempted bunt and broke his bat by slamming it over his knee.
For more Cubs coverage, read Wednesday's edition of The Times.
