Derrek Lee

Derrek Lee hit two home runs and drove in a career-high seven runs to lead the Cubs to a 9-5 win over the Brewers at Wrigley Field Thursday night.

Lee hit a three-run homer in the first inning and a grand slam in the fourth. The Cubs scored all of their runs in those two innings. Geovany Soto and Jake Fox also homered for the Cubs.

Milwaukee starter Seth McClung took the loss after giving up seven runs. Reliever Chris Smith gave up the grand slam to Lee, but two of the runs were charged to McClung.

Ryan Dempster got the win for thes Cubs. Sean Marshall, Aaron Heilman and Carlos Marmol pitched in relief. 

Dempster gave up a homer to Mike Cameron, who had three hits overall, and another to Prince Fielder.

Read more about the game by going to the team web sites via MDR links.

Weekend Preview

 Jeff Suppan vs. Carlos Zambrano

The Brewers travel south to Wrigley Field to take on the Cubs in a four-game series this weekend.

Seth McClung will face the Cubs' Ryan Dempster in the series opener on Thursday. Jeff Suppan and Chicago's Carlos Zambrano will match up on Friday.

Milwaukee's Braden Looper is scheduled to face Rich Harden on Saturday. On Sunday, the Brewers' Mike Burns and Cubs' Ted Lilly will take the mound.

Brief summaries of the games at Wrigley will be posted on MDR.

The White Sox also start their weekend on Thursday, at Kansas City. Mark Buehrle will face the Royals' Bruce Chen in the series opener.

The Twins wait until Friday to start their weekend. Kevin Slowey will match up against the Tigers' Lucas French in the opener.

You can read about all weekend games by going to the team web sites via MDR links. Come back here Sunday night for the Weekend Wrap.

Midweek Notebook

Joe Nathan

Brewers

** RHP Mike Burns had no victories in 46 relief appearances and one start in the majors before getting the decision Tuesday in a 6-3 triumph over the New York Mets

** INF Craig Counsell’s 11-game hitting streak, tops for the Brewers this season, ended in tough fashion when he grounded out to first in the eighth inning Tuesday in his only at-bat. Counsell entered the game in the top of the inning in a double switch with RHP Todd Coffey.

** The Brewers will take a good look at RHP Brandon Backe, the former Astro who was designated for assignment last week and refused a trip to Houston's Triple-A club on Monday, according to MLB.com.

Cubs

** June was not kind to the Cubs. After entering the month with a 25-24 record, the Cubs went 11-14 in June, including Tuesday’s 3-0 loss at Pittsburgh. The loss left the Cubs with a record of 36-38.

** Milton Bradley did not start Tuesday, and is supposed to be out of the starting lineup again Wednesday to work on his left-handed swing. He singled as a pinch hitter and remained in the game in center field. Bradley is batting .242 with five homers and 17 RBIs.

** 3B Josh Vitters, the Cubs’ first-round draft pick in 2007, has been promoted from low Class A Peoria to high Class A Daytona.

Twins

** RHP Scott Baker improved to 6-6 on the season and has allowed three or fewer earned runs in six straight starts. Baker is getting right by avoiding the home run ball. He gave up seven home runs in four starts from May 19 to June 4. In his last five starts, Baker has allowed two home runs.

** Manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected for the third time this season and 44th time in his career Monday.

** RHP Joe Nathan struck out two of three batters he faced in the ninth inning and saved his 20th game this season. Nathan has struck out nine of the last 13 batters he has faced and has allowed only one baserunner in his last six appearances.

White Sox

** Manager Ozzie Guillen said he was not surprised to find out that he finished second to Lou Piniella in a Sports Illustrated poll in which players voted on the managers they would least like to play for.

** LF Scott Podsednik was due to get a day off this week, with Guillen wanting to make sure he didn’t run his leadoff hitter into the ground.

** 3B Gordon Beckham grabbed his first stolen base of the season in Monday’s win.

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