CHICAGO — Ryan Braun and Mike Rivera combined for five RBIs.

Mitch Stetter struck out the only batter he faced for the final out of the eighth inning.

But little else went right on Wednesday night for the Milwaukee Brewers, who watched Geovany Soto hit two three-run homers as the Chicago Cubs pounded out a 19-5 victory.

It was the Cubs' biggest outburst since a 20-1 whipping of the Los Angles Dodgers on May 5, 2001. And the Brewers had not allowed that many since they gave up 19 at Colorado last Aug. 8.

The Cubs scored six runs each in the first and eighth innings while batting around, and leading the charge was a rookie who appeared in just 18 games last season.

The onslaught made things easy for Ryan Dempster (4-0). Jeff Suppan (1-1) didn't finish the fourth inning. Soto's shot in the first capped a six-run outburst, and he finished off a five-run fourth by going deep again off reliever Brian Shouse, who had just come in for Suppan.

It was the first multihomer game for Soto, who made a big impression by batting .389 for the Cubs last year, and the six RBIs were a career high.

After losing four of five and falling 10-7 in the opener of this three-game set, the NL Central leaders wasted no time jumping on Suppan.

Soto, who struck out in eight straight at-bats before going 2-for-4 Tuesday, capped the first-inning outburst by lining a pitch out to left field.

But the beating was well under way before he stepped to the plate. Back-to-back RBI doubles off the wall by Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez made it 3-0 with no outs, and the Cubs continued to pound away at Suppan.

The veteran right-hander allowed a career-high 11 runs (eight earned) and 11 hits over 3.2 innings and his ERA jumped from 3.48 to 5.19. An RBI single by Mark DeRosa finally knocked him out and Soto greeted Shouse by hitting his fifth homer this year.

While Soto enjoyed his best game, Lee and Ramirez gave the Cubs two players with 20 or more RBIs in April for the first time. Lee's double in the first gave him 23, while Ramirez has 22 after driving in three.

The Cubs' 17 hits were one shy of their season high.

Derrick Turnbow, the Brewers' fourth pitcher, was especially hit hard. Entering in the eighth, he gave up six earned runs on four hits with four walks on 43 pitches. He retired only two hitters.

The onslaught made things easy for Ryan Dempster (4-0) and probably whetted Alfonso Soriano's appetite to return.

He'll be back at the top of the order and in left field today after spending 15 days on the disabled list because of a strained right calf.

Dempster allowed three runs and four hits in six innings but walked five while striking out one.

Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks and Braun had two hits apiece, and Rivera hit his first homer of the season — a two-run shot off Bob Howry in the seventh.