MILWAUKEE — Edwin Maysonet did not come to Miller Park on Saturday expecting to play.
Milwaukee’s reserve infielder, who was called up from Triple-A Nashville six days ago, started at second base with Rickie Weeks sidelined by a sore wrist and hit his first career grand slam to help the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 8-2.
Maysonet had only one career home run before Saturday — and it took him three years to get the second after hitting his first for Houston in May 2009 against Pittsburgh.
Weeks was hit on the left wrist during the Brewers’ 13-inning win Friday. X-rays were negative and Weeks is listed as day to day.
“I’m just trying to get a good fastball that I can hit a line drive because I am not a home run hitter,” Maysonet said. “You can see my stats.”
Maysonet even got to take a curtain call in front of the sellout crowd, something that really made an impression on him.
“It was a great day,” he said. “You go out there and play hard and try to help your team win. It felt amazing.”
Maysonet’s teammates were also thrilled for him.
“It was awesome,” said catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who had two hits to continue his recent hot hitting streak. “It’s fun to see a guy like that get a hit and help us win.”
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said Weeks would be back at second base on Sunday if he is feeling better, but he was very pleased with Maysonet’s offensive and defensive contributions.
“He had a really nice day,” Roenicke said. “He looked good in the field and had some really nice at-bats.”
Roenicke was also very pleased with the performance of starting pitcher Shaun Marcum (2-1), who gave up just one run on three hits and had six strikeouts. After giving up a run in the first he did not allow a runner past second, retiring 10 of the last 11 he faced.
“Marcum was very good today,” Roenicke said. “He was changing speeds well and it was fun to watch. He really messes with hitters with his speed changes and the way the ball moves.”
It was the second straight win for the Brewers, who beat the Cubs on Friday in a 5-hour game that ended just past midnight. Saturday’s start remained at noon because it was a nationally televised game.
Chris Volstad (0-5) pitched six innings for the Cubs, giving up six runs on nine hits. It was the 18th straight start that Volstad did not record a victory. His last win was July 17, 2011, for Florida.
Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Volstad pitched a good game, but it got away from him in the sixth inning.
“The slider got him in trouble again,” he said. “That is something we’ve got to work on because it’s a pitch he needs, but it’s getting hit too often and too hard.”
The Cubs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when David DeJesus scored on Starlin Castro’s double-play groundout.
The Brewers tied it in the bottom half as Nyjer Morgan came home when Ryan Braun got caught in a rundown while trying to steal second base.
Milwaukee broke the game open in the sixth inning. Lucroy, who led off with a double, scored on Aramis Ramirez’s fielder’s choice. Corey Hart doubled to the left field wall and the Cubs walked Travis Ishikawa to load the bases.
Maysonet then hit the second pitch from Volstad into the second level in left field.
Tony Campana’s RBI double in the eighth cut it to 6-2 for the Cubs, but Norichika Aoki’s suicide squeeze and Jonathan Lucroy’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning pushed the Brewers ahead 8-2.
Notes: The Cubs put RHP Carlos Marmol on the 15-day disabled list after he suffered a strained right hamstring Friday. The Cubs called up Casey Coleman from Triple-A Iowa. … Both teams were warned in the second inning after Marcum hit Alfonso Soriano with his first pitch. Braun had been drilled in the back by Volstad in the first inning. … Bryan LaHair’s sixth inning single extended his streak of reaching base safely to 29 games, the longest in the NL this season.
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