Recap: Milwaukee vs. Chicago Cubs

By Sports Network

Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Jim Edmonds hit a grand slam and a solo home run as the Chicago Cubs completed the four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with an 11-4 win at Miller Park.

Chicago held a slim one-game lead for first place in the NL Central against Milwaukee when the series started on Monday. Now, though, the Cubs are up five games on Milwaukee and are four games ahead of St. Louis for the top spot in the division.

The Cubs dominated the series as they outscored the Brewers, 31-11, in the four games.

Kosuke Fukudome added a two-run home run while Alfonso Soriano hit a solo homer for the Cubs, who have won five straight games.

Rich Harden (1-1) got his first win with Chicago since being acquired from Oakland on July 8. He gave up one run on six hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings of work. In his four starts with Chicago this season he has allowed just three runs while striking out 39 over 24 1/3 innings of work.

Prince Fielder hit a solo home run while Dave Bush (5-9) was tagged for seven runs -- six earned -- on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings of work for the Brewers, who have dropped five straight and six of seven overall.

The Cubs got on the board in the third inning when Edmonds led off the frame by depositing a 3-1 pitch into the right field stands.

Chicago made it a 5-0 game in the fourth, again off the bat of Edmonds. With two outs, Ramirez led off with a walk, Fukudome doubled and Mark DeRosa was hit in the back with a pitch to load the bases. Edmonds then took a 1-1 slider to the opposite field as the ball just carried over the left field fence for Edmonds' seventh career grand slam.

Milwaukee had a man on base in each of the first four innings, but were unable to get any across the plate.

Harden then retired the Brewers in order in the fifth and sixth innings before Fielder led off the seventh by roping a pitch into the upper deck in right field to make it a 5-1 game.

Chicago, though, secured the win in the eighth. With one out, Soriano roped a pitch over the left-center wall, his 18th of the season. Later in the inning, Aramis Ramirez hit a double to left that scored Ryan Theriot and Fukudome followed with a blast into the right field stands for a 9-1 advantage.

Mike Fontenot hit a two-run single in the ninth for Chicago while an RBI single from Mike Cameron and a two-run, pinch-hit double from Bill Hall in the bottom of the ninth accounted for the final score.