THREE UP

He's the man: Seth McClung has gone from mop-up man to THE Man after his four shutout inning relief effort against the Cubs. It wasn't too long ago that he was pitching his way out of baseball as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. Now he's pitching himself into a key and versatile role on the Brewers staff as a starter or reliever. "I've always wanted to pitch in a big game, in an important situation,'' he said. "I really enjoyed it.''

Not pretty, but effective: Jeff Suppan lived up to his Mr. September billing with a 5-inning, one-run effort, much better than any of his previous four starts this month. While Suppan allowed baserunners in each inning and stranded seven runners, the only serious damage came on Jim Edmonds' home run in the second.

Masters of their domain: McClung's relief showing was just part of a trend for the Brewers bullpen, which has now allowed just three runs in its last 24 innings, an eye-popping earned run average of 1.13.

THREE DOWN

Ouch: Cubs manager Lou Piniella has been trying to protect catcher Geovany Soto and his sore left hand but that aching left hand got the better of Soto this night. He left the game in the sixth after a swing and miss on strike one from McClung.

Know where you're going: Cubs rookie Micah Hoffpauir cost the Cubs a scoring chance in the fifth when he was thrown out at second by catcher Jason Kendall. Hoffpauir singled to right and Corey Hart's strong, one-hop throw to the plate kept Mike Fontenot from trying to score. But Hoffpauir kept heading to second and was an easy target for Kendall.

That hurts: Ray Durham, whose offensive skills more than offset his defensive deficiencies at this point in the season, came hopping home on Corey Hart's sixth inning single and didn't return to the field in the seventh, apparently re-injuring a hamstring that bothered him last week. Durham, who doubled off Cubs reliever Sean Marshall to open the inning, said he would be available to play Saturday, though Rickie Weeks is the expected starter against Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly.