Milwaukee 4, Chicago Cubs 2 (1st game)

CHICAGO, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Glendon Rusch pitched six effective innings and Ron Belliard hit two of the four homers for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4-2 victory Monday over the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a doubleheader.

Eric Young and Jose Hernandez also homered for the Brewers, who improved to 10-4 against the Cubs this season and have hit 21 homers in those games.

Rusch (8-13) has struggled for most of the season, but he improved to 4-0 against the Cubs this season, allowing two runs and scattering eight hits. The lefthander walked two and struck out six.

The only costly mistake for Rusch was a two-run homer by Moises Alou in the second.

Valerio De Los Santos and Luis Vizcaino followed before Mike DeJean worked the ninth for his 23rd save.

The 5-8 Belliard hit just his second and third homers of the season, belting solo shots in the third and fifth innings off loser Steve Smyth (1-3). Belliard has 30 home runs in 469 major league games. His only other multi-homer game was against Los Angeles on July 24, 2000.

Smyth yielded three runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings, including a homer to Young in the fifth. Hernandez homered in the eighth off Pat Mahomes.

The Cubs had the leadoff runner on from the fifth through the eighth innings and failed to score. In the sixth inning, manager Bruce Kimm let reliever bat with a runner on third and two outs and Mahomes struck out.

Richie Sexson of the Brewers had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.