Cubs-Brewers: Marshall Struggles Early, but Cubs Hang on to Beat Brew Crew

After allowing runs in each of the first two innings, Cubs starter Sean Marshall settled down, the bullpen got nasty, and the Cubs roughed up Jeff Suppan in the third inning to escape Milwaukee with a 4-2 win.

The game was highlighted by an Alfonso Soriano two-run homer, his 10th of the season

What a crazy week.

I couldn't have imagined that when everything was said and done, the Cubs would return to Chicago fresh off a winning road trip.

But if there is one thing that the Cubs have enjoyed so far this season, it's good starting pitching. It's kept them in games over the last few weeks, and the team will need it to stay solid for at least a few more—if they're going to weather this tough time.

That good pitching was on display today; well, at least once Sean Marshall found the release point on his curveball.

The game would start badly for the Cubs, with Richie Weeks jacking a leadoff homer for a 1-0 lead. The game looked to get ugly early, when Marshall would put a couple on, before striking out JJ Hardy to end the inning.

It was more of the same in the second, when a Jason Kendall "triple" scored Bill Hall, and Marshall would walk Richie Weeks. A triple is kind, as in reality. it was a double to left that Alfonso Soriano bobbled, kicked, and lolly-gagged back to the infield, allowing Kendall to take the extra base. You have to give it to the home scorers, as it was probably the most generous call you'll see this year.

Two things happened though after the second inning: Sean Marshall would settle down, and Jeff Suppan turned into a pumpkin. The Cubs would grab a four-spot off of him in the third, when Soriano would homer, and the Cubs took advantage of a Kendall errant throw to the plate on a pitch that bounced away to score Kosuke Fukudome.

And for once, the bullpen would hold.

Credit Angel Guzman for two much-needed innings of scoreless work. Carlos Marmol would scare the hell out of everyone, loading the bases in the eighth, but would get Kendall to ground into a 5-3 force out to keep the score intact.

Kevin Gregg would then end things uneventfully in the ninth, picking up his fifth save of the month, after only one in April.

I'm just going to keep muttering to myself, "There's no such thing as a bad win. There's no such thing as a bad win"...