MILWAUKEE — Who knows what Cubs manager Lou Piniella has up his sleeve next?
In three losses to the Mets, the Cubs were outscored, 15-3. On Friday, the team's top clutch hitter was on the bench next to a superstar outfielder, and the Opening Day starter was in the bullpen. Chad Tracy was making his first start of the year. And Chicago was facing a red hot Milwaukee squad that was coming off a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh in which the Brewers outscored the Pirates, 36-1.
And everything worked for the Cubs.
Kosuke Fukudome and Ryan Theriot combined for four extra-base hits, and rookie Tyler Colvin belted a monster two-run homer in the ninth to back Ryan Dempster and lift the Cubs to an 8-1 victory over the Brewers.
"If we can swing the bats like that, it makes things a whole lot easier," Piniella said.
The Cubs' offense has been unable to support stellar starting pitching — they now have a 2.17 ERA in the last nine games — but unleashed a surge that began in the first as Theriot and Fukudome hit back-to-back doubles.
"It's a work in progress," Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "Everybody's out there working hard, trying to find their swings. Now you get your ups and downs. We're trying to stay away from the low valleys and not get too high at the same time."
Friday's win was the Cubs' second in the last seven games. It's been hard to be positive.
"Sometimes you try harder because of the expectations," hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo said before the game. "We want the expectations. Good things will start happening."
Dempster (2-0) was the beneficiary. He started the opener between the two National League Central rivals for the fourth time in the last five series, and now has won all four. He lost his shutout bid in the seventh, when pinch-hitter Craig Counsell hit an RBI double — one of seven hits off the right-hander over 7 2/3 innings.
"When Dempster is throwing strikes and getting ahead of the hitters, he's got the pitches to get good hitting teams out — believe me," Piniella said.
The Brewers certainly qualify. They batted .352 in their last four games, including Thursday's 20-0 romp over the Pirates.
"I figured they scored 20 yesterday, they had to hit a few of those at somebody today, and they did that," Dempster said.
The Cubs got a break in the first. Fukudome's RBI double made it 1-0 and Derrek Lee then singled, the first time the Cubs have put together three straight hits since the eighth inning last Saturday against the Astros. Lee was nearly caught in a pickoff, but as he moved toward second, Fukudome headed home. Shortstop Alcides Escobar threw home, too, but missed everyone, and Fukudome scored on the error.
In the Brewers' first, Prince Fielder thought he hit a ball over the home run mark in center, but the umpires correctly ruled that it didn't clear after checking out the replay. Fielder was credited with a double. Instead of the game being tied at 2, the Cubs' two-run lead was preserved.
"It made a hole in [the wall]," Piniella said of Fielder's ball.
"Right when he hit it, it bounced right to me," Byrd said. "I knew it hit the top of the wall. I wasn't worried about the replay."
The next batter, Casey McGehee, grounded out to third to end the inning.
"I thought it was gone," Dempster said of Fielder's drive. "I knew I had that chance to make a pitch to get an out, and I was able to get him to hit it on the ground to third and get out of the inning. Especially after we just scored two, you want shutdown innings. It was definitely a big break for us.
"Who knows? If that was [Thursday], maybe that ball would've gone out and those balls wouldn't have found anybody," Dempster said.
The Cubs' defense backed Dempster, as Tracy — starting at third for the first time — was solid, and second baseman Mike Fontenot added to his highlight reel with a couple of plays.
"I had a lot of help," Dempster said. "I felt I threw the ball over the plate as well as I have. I got a lucky break when Prince hit that ball off the top of the wall."
Fukudome notched his second homer off the first pitch from Jeff Suppan (0-1) with one out in the third to make it 3-0. Theriot added an RBI triple in the fourth, driving in Koyie Hill, who had singled. Fontenot and Hill each hit RBI singles in the fifth. Colvin's homer provided much needed insurance with two outs in the ninth off Todd Coffey.
"The kid Colvin got a hold of one," Piniella said. "It was just a good game all around."
The Cubs' bullpen even had reinforcements. Carlos Zambrano, who threw a no-hitter at Miller Park in September 2008, made his first appearance there. He did warm up in the eighth, but it may have been more to get accustomed to his new role as setup man.
He would've gotten in if necessary, Piniella said. That will have to wait for another game. The manager could savor Friday's win.
"We've been in so many games and had very few that we've been blown out of," Dempster said. "That's the frustrating part of it — we're not a bad team, we just haven't had games go our way. We just keep pushing and play one game at a time, and that's how things turn around. We have a lot of professionals in here who know it's a long season and will work to the next one."