CHICAGO -- It took a while for Kyle Lohse to get comfortable on a cold and soggy day at Wrigley Field. Once he got into a groove, the Milwaukee Brewers were well on their way to another victory. Lohse pitched seven effective innings for his first win in three weeks, and Milwaukee beat the sloppy Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Friday. "Kyle was a little bit off those first few innings and then he got it going again late," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Probably in the last inning had his best stuff and command." Lohse allowed three runs and seven hits as NL Central-leading Milwaukee won for the fifth time in six games. He retired his last 13 batters in his first win since April 23 against San Diego, ending a streak of three starts without a decision. "It was a weird early going for me. I couldnt get command really much of anything," Lohse said. "But youve been around long enough you figure out how to grind through it and figure out what you need to do physically to get your body in the right spot to make pitches." Jean Segura had three hits and two RBIs for Milwaukee, which improved to an NL-best 13-5 on the road. Elian Herrera doubled twice in a spot start in right field for Ryan Braun, who got the day off as he makes his way back from a right oblique strain. Darwin Barney hit a two-run homer and Junior Lake had a solo shot for the Cubs, who have lost three straight and 10 of 12. Jeff Samardzija lasted five innings after getting off to a slow start, but is winless in his last 15 games dating to last season. "Obviously, I want to win," Samardzija said. "Being a starting pitcher, you have a big say as to how the game turns out. Obviously if my record isnt what I want it to be I need to do a better job." Milwaukee jumped on Samardzija for two runs in each of the first two innings, taking advantage of several early miscues by the Cubs. Segura singled with one out in the first, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Jonathan Lucroys base hit. Lucroy advanced when Lake mishandled his single to left and scored when Lyle Overbay reached on shortstop Starlin Castros throwing error. It was Castros second error in three games and No. 7 in 40 games this season. The 24-year-old Castro had a career-low 22 errors in 159 games last season. Segura added a two-run single in the second as Milwaukee opened a 4-0 lead. Welington Castillo had a costly passed ball that allowed the runners to move up to second and third before Segura hit a liner into centre field. Samardzija (0-4) allowed two earned runs and six hits in his shortest start of the season. His ERA increased from 1.45 to 1.62. "He didnt have his best stuff today but he grinded out through five," manager Rick Renteria said. "We had a couple plays that maybe extended his innings." Barney connected in the second and Lake went deep in the third, but that was it for Chicago against Lohse (5-1). The veteran right-hander struck out two and walked one while improving to 6-6 in 21 career starts against the Cubs. Will Smith tossed a perfect eighth for Milwaukee and Francisco Rodriguez finished for his major league-best 17th save in 18 chances. It was Rodriguezs first outing since he allowed three runs in the ninth inning of Wednesdays 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh. "I was itching to go yesterday. It didnt work out," he said. "But as long as I get an opportunity to go out there and pitch, theres a better chance that I am going to do better than I did three days ago." Braun was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday and played three straight games against the Pirates. Roenicke decided to rest the 2011 NL MVP for the series opener against the lowly Cubs. Braun, who is batting .316 with six homers and 18 RBIs in 25 games, did not make a rehab start before he rejoined the team. "Youre going on what the player tells you. If he comes out and feels it again, youre in trouble," Roenicke said. "So thats why we try to take it easy so were really protecting ourselves throwing him right out there and something happens and hes right back on the DL again." NOTES: It rained for much of the morning in Chicago, and the gametime temperature was 38 degrees. ... Brewers RHP Matt Garza (2-3, 4.98 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Edwin Jackson (2-3, 4.56 ERA) on Saturday. It will be Garzas first game at Wrigley Field since he was traded from the Cubs to the Rangers last July. ... Roenicke said he hopes Carlos Gomez will be able to play Saturday. The centre fielder is nursing a sore back while serving a three-game suspension for his role in a benches-clearing brawl April 20 in Pittsburgh. Landon Collins Youth Jersey .Mila Kunis was a guest on Kimmel last night and revealed a surprising side of herself that comes out when she watches sports. It turns out screaming something vulgar at professional athletes is therapeutic for Kunis. Doug Williams Jersey . Third-place Madrid fell behind and settled for a 2-2 draw earlier at Osasuna in a match both sides finished with 10 men, and Barcelona didnt let the chance escape. Barcelona, still without the injured Lionel Messi, again turned to Neymar after his hat trick against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday to convert a penalty on the half-hour mark and restore the lead in the 68th after Villarreal levelled. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redskins-Derrius-Guice-Jersey/ .com) - On a night the Bulls played without Derrick Rose, it was time for Pau Gasol to take charge. Doug Williams Youth Jersey . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Alex Smith Jersey . The New York Rangers centre had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators ending a 13-game goal-scoring drought.The Blue Jays offence has been positively dazzling, especially in the first eight days of May. You might as well change the franchise name from the Blue Jays to the "Thunder Birds." The Jays have scored 56 runs in putting together a 6-2 record, good for an average of seven runs per game. Over the last couple of weeks, everyone has been talking about the firepower of the Colorado Rockies and rightly so, but the Rockies have scored 58 runs over the same span in May and have an identical 6-2 mark. Granted, the Rockies dont play with a DH for the bulk of their games, so their totals are slightly more impressiveThe Jays pitching numbers have improved this month, as well. They have given up just 31 runs or just fewer than four per game. Colorado has surrendered exactly 32 or four runs per game right on the button. On the season, the Jays have scored 178 runs and given up 158. That 178 total is second in the American League to the Chicago White Sox who have racked up 184, which is, coincidentally, the same number they have allowed. The 178 the Jays have scored is the best in the AL East, but the 158 against is fourth-worst in the American League, ahead of only the Texas Rangers (174), Houston Astros (181) and the White Sox. The Jays though have improved by leaps and bounds over a year ago when they were 13-23 out of the gate. At this point last season, the Jays had only scored 139 runs and had given up 190. The -51 run differential was second-worst in the American League to Houston at -73. The really interesting comparison takes us back to 1993, the last time the Blue Jays won the World Series. The season started a week later so it took the 93 Jays until May 14 to play their 35th game, but guess what - their record then was exactly the same as this years edition at 18-17. On that date the 93 Jays had scored, you guessed it, 178 runs, the same as this years team. The 93 bunch though had allowed a dreadful 193 runs through May 14 for a -15 run differential. Im not saying the 2014 Blue Jays are as good a team as the 93 Jays, because at this point that would be ludicrous. Remember that the 93 Jays added Tony Fernandez and Rickey Henderson to the mix with in-season deals and became even stronger and the 1993 edition also had a lights-out closer in Duane Ward. Still, the numbers of the current team are intriguing and give cause for some hope. Another point - the Blue Jays have won a season high five-straight, which, while impressive, can only be considered a starting point. The 93 Jays had three outstanding runs in-season, From May 20 through June 5, they won 13 of 16 games. Then, from June 15 through the 29, they took 12 of 14 to push their record to 48-30. After losing 10 of 11 from June 30 to July 11 to fall to 49-40, they rebounded to take nine of 10 from July 24 through August 3. Next came a nine-game win streak from September 10 through 21 and then they finished the season by winning five of their final seven. The Jays finished the 1993 regular season with a 95-67 record, one victory fewer than the previous years team.ddddddddddddThey scored 847 runs, second-best in the American League and gave up 742, which was fifth in the American League. Their run differential was +105. On last May 9, the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox were in a virtual tie for first in the AL East. Tampa Bay was 16-18, four-and-a-half games out. The Blue Jays were dead last at 13-23, eight-and-a-half games out. On May 9, this time around, the Jays are alone in third place in the East, one game back of the Yankees and one-and-a-half behind first-place Baltimore. Its still a very long, difficult haul, but this summer may not be as long as many of us thought it would be. - We dont get to see enough of Colorado to truly appreciate the talents of their young third baseman Nolan Arenado. On Thursday, he broke Michael Cuddyers club record 27-game hit streak that was set only last season. At 28 games, Arenado is exactly halfway to Joe DiMaggios iconic 56-game streak set in 1941. If Arenado stays healthy and can put together one of those streaks for the ages, he would be in position to equal and then surpass DiMaggios streak June 10 and 11 at home against the Atlanta Braves at Coors Field. Realistically, though, in this day and age, its hard to see anyone coming close to that milestone. - The Blue Jays lost outfielder Moises Sierra on a waiver claim to the White Sox last weekend. He was added to Chicagos roster last Sunday and made late-inning appearances in that game against the Cleveland Indians and in Mondays cross-city rivalry game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, going hitless in one at-bat for the two games. On Tuesday, though, Adam Dunn was a late scratch and skipper Robin Ventura stuck Sierra in the line-up in right field. He went four-for-four and scored a run in the White Sox 5-1 victory over the Cubbies. It will be interesting to see how his career unfolds with this fresh start. - Two of this years early season hard-luck pitchers faced each other earlier this week at Wrigley. Jose Quintana of the White Sox pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, giving up just one run, while racking up his fourth no-decision in starts. This coming from the guy who set an American League record a year ago with 17 no-decisions. Quintana is 1-2 on the campaign with a 3.56 ERA. On the flip side, the Cubs Jeff Samardzija, whos in his contract year, fired nine innings of three-hit, one-run ball before being taken out. Again, a no decision. Samardizija, whos pitched like an All-Star and has been the subject of many a trade rumour is 0-3 with an incredible 1.62 earned run average. Ultimately, he probably will be traded to a contender, maybe even the Jays, but not until a lot closer to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. And, yes, the White Sox did win that game at Wrigley 3-1 over the Cubs in 12 innings. ' ' '