Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run homer in the third inning and Kevin Gausman tossed seven innings of one-run ball as the Chicago Cubs beat the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Thursday to earn a split of a four-game series.
Gausman (9-11) allowed five hits and one walk while striking out nine. Ryan Zeferjahn pitched a perfect eighth inning before Ryan Rolison retired the Brewers in order in the ninth for his second save.
Gausman outdueled Milwaukee starter Logan Henderson (9-3), who gave up two runs on three hits over seven innings. The rookie struck out seven with no walks while throwing a career-high 102 pitches.
Chicago (79-62) won despite being held hitless after Crow-Armstrong’s one-out homer in the third inning.
Andrew Vaughn homered for Milwaukee (87-54), which holds an eight-game lead over the second-place Cubs in the National League Central with 21 games remaining.
The Cubs scored the only runs they would need in the third inning. Carson Kelly hit a one-out single and Crow-Armstrong followed by turning on a 2-1 changeup for his 39th homer of the season.
Crow-Armstrong, who was named NL Player of the Month for August prior to the game, entered the contest batting 3-for-33 against Brewers pitching this season.
Milwaukee answered in the fourth after Gausman struck out William Contreras and Jake Bauers to begin the inning. Vaughn then hit a 420-foot blast to left-center field for his sixth homer of the season and first since Aug. 4.
The Brewers put runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth before Gausman struck out Brice Turang to strand both runners.
Gausman escaped unscathed again in the sixth when Christian Yelich grounded out to strand Bauers at third base.
Henderson retired his final 14 batters in a row after giving up Crow-Armstrong’s homer. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his first 20 career starts.
Chicago opened the series with a 17-3 win before losing the next two games by a combined margin of 18-9.
