Ryan Braun hits a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Christian Yelich scored on Ryan Braun's ninth-inning sacrifice fly, Brandon Woodruff pitched seven innings of one-hit ball and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 on Friday night as they tried to climb back into playoff contention.
Woodruff, Devin Williams and Josh Hader (1-1) combined on a two-hitter with 16 strikeouts. Coming off a 19-0 rout of Detroit, Milwaukee pitchers extended their scoreless streak to 19 innings. The Brewers have pitched consecutive shutouts for the first time since Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 last year Wrigley Field.
Yelich walked leading off the ninth and took third on Jedd Gyorko’s single to right off Rowan Wick (0-1), just the fourth hit for the Brewers.
Braun greeted Jeremy Jeffress with a fly to right fielder Jason Heyward a few steps in front of the warning track. Yelich scored without a throw.
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Milwaukee is third in the NL Central at 20-22, four games back of the division-leading Cubs and also trailing St. Louis. The Brewers have not been above .500 all season.
Former All-Stars Jon Lester and Woodruff matched up in a pitcher's duel following frustrating stretches.
Lester entered with a 5.80 ERA and had allowed at least five earned runs in four of his previous five starts. He struck out eight and yielded only three hits over six innings against a lineup that had a franchise-record 13 extra-base hits in Wednesday's blowout of the Tigers.
Woodruff had lasted just 4 1/3 innings in his prior start, a 4-3 loss at Cleveland, and said “not getting through five innings is kind of a disgrace.”
This time, Woodruff allowed his only hit when Ian Happ singled to left-center leading off the sixth.
Kris Bryant hit a two-out triple in the eighth off the wall in right-center, but Williams struck out Anthony Rizzo. Opposing batters had gone hitless in 31 at-bats against Williams dating to Kyle Schwarber's double on Aug. 14.
CUBS MOVE
The Cubs recalled left-hander Rex Brothers from their alternate training site in South Bend, Indiana. They optioned right-hander Adbert Alzolay to South Bend.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs manager David Ross said Jason Kipnis is “dealing with a little something” he didn't specify, explaining why the second baseman hasn’t played since Tuesday. Ross said Kipnis will play soon.
UP NEXT
Kyle Hendricks (5-4, 3.41 ERA) starts Saturday for the Cubs and Brett Anderson (2-3, 4.64) for the Brewers.