Cubs manager Joe Maddon tried almost every move in the book Seahawks Elite Jerseys , but it wasn’t enough to prevent a second consecutive shutout loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Lorenzo Cain homered and Jhoulys Chacin combined with three relievers on a six-hitter to pace the Brewers past Chicago, 1-0 on Wednesday, even as Maddon used two pitchers and a catcher in left field in the eighth inning.

The Brewers improved to 3-8 this season against the Cubs and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of second-place Chicago in the NL Central. Seven of the 11 games between the two have been shutouts, five by Chicago.

”We’re a good baseball team and we know they’re a good baseball team,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. ”This series wasn’t going to decide anything, but we know that that’s a team that’s going to be there in the end, so wins against them are important.”

Chacin (6-1) allowed four hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking four to win his sixth consecutive decision. Jeremy Jeffress pitched the seventh, Josh Hader struck out the side in the eighth and Cory Knebel worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save.

”Their guy was really good at keeping us off-balance,” Maddon said. ”He is not overpowering by any means but he pitches well. Sometimes that gives us a lot of trouble when a guy can pitch like that. We had a couple opportunities. We didn’t square him up at all really.”

Mike Montgomery (2-2) allowed only two hits in six innings, both by Cain. He struck out four and walked one in his fourth start since replacing injured Yu Darvish in the rotation.

Cain drove a 3-1 pitch over the wall in left with one out in the third for his eighth homer. He also opened the first inning with a single.

”It was the only run today, but it ended up winning us a ballgame,” Cain said. ”That just shows how great of a job the pitching has been doing. We’ve definitely got to get going and score some more runs. We’re definitely putting too much pressure on our pitchers as a whole.”

To open the eighth, Maddon brought in right-hander Steve Cishek, who gave up an infield single to Orlando Arcia. Cishek then moved to left field for the first time in his eight-year career as left-hander Brian Duensing came on and struck out pinch-hitter Eric Thames.

Duensing then moved to left, also for the first time in his career, and Cishek returned to the mound to retire Cain on a fielder’s choice. Duensing came back to pitch with left field being turned over to catcher Willson Contreras, who made a running catch on Christian Yelich’s drive into the corner for the third out.

”It just popped,” Maddon said. ”(Kyle) Schwarber making the last out, the pitcher coming up third. And the way their batting order set up, it just played out perfectly. You can’t always do it but it worked out today.”

The Cubs won Monday’s series opener 7-2 with five runs in the 11th, but managed just two hits in Tuesday’s 4-0 loss.

”We played well the first game but we only got two runs up to the 11th inning of that game and then shutout-shutout Ryan Kalil Jersey ,” Maddon said. ”We almost should be grateful we won one out of three.”

The Brewers stranded runners at third in each of the first two innings. In the second, rightfielder Jason Heyward prevented a run, charging in for a sensational sliding grab on Erik Kratz’s one-out sinking liner and then recovering quickly to hold Hernan Perez at third.

MADDON’S MANEUVERING

Duensing, who said he last played left field in high school in 2001, was apprehensive when Cain came to the plate in the eighth. ”I was praying he would stay away from Lorenzo Cain,” Duensing said of Cishek. ”It looked like he was trying to hook one (to left) and I was not appreciative of that. Cishek got the job done so were able to get through there and give our team a chance.”

Maybe because it didn’t affect the outcome, Counsell admired Maddon’s ingenuity. ”It was creative. It was smart. They got matchups they wanted. He did a nice job.”

BRYANT RESTED

With a day off on Thursday, struggling third baseman Kris Bryant was held out to give him two days rest. Bryan is hitless in his last 15 at-bats and has not homered since May 14. Even trailing 1-0 in the ninth, Maddon resisted the urge to use Bryant as a pinch-hitter. ”He has been struggling a lot,” Maddon said. ”Theoretically it sounds wonderful. But I thought (Chris) Gimenez had some good swings today. It’s an easy dialogue to conjure up but I was really trying to give him the day off.”

CAIN JOINS COUNSELL IN BREWERS LORE

The Brewers 1-0 victory over the Cubs was only the second in the all-time series. Milwaukee’s only other 1-0 win was on July 5, 2004 at Miller Park in which Counsell provided the only run with a first-inning homer.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: RHP Yu Darvish, on the 10-day DL (right triceps tendinitis) and RHP Carl Edwards, also on the DL (right shoulder inflammation), each came through Tuesday’s bullpen session well, Maddon said.

Brewers: RHP Matt Albers, on the 10-day DL (right shoulder discomfort), will continue treatment throughout the weekend, and then be reassessed. … RHP Zach Davies, on the 10-day DL retroactive to May 30 (right rotator cuff inflammation), threw a bullpen session Wednesday, but is at least three weeks away and will need two or three rehab outings, Counsell said.

UP NEXT

Cubs: Chicago is off Thursday Adidas Nathan MacKinnon Jersey , then heads to St. Louis for a three-game series against the Cardinals. Left-hander Jon Lester (7-2, 2.22) starts for the Cubs, oppose Fred Warner isn't being given time to ease into his NFL career.

The rookie for the San Francisco 49ers is slated to start in his debut on Sunday in Minnesota at a relatively new position of middle linebacker with all the responsibilities that come with calling the defensive signals.

"I'm very excited, being this will be my first start," Warner said. "I'm just trying to make sure I'm as prepared as possible heading into that game on Sunday. I'm just going to do what I do, which is ball out and make plays and be the leader out there as the Mike."

The Niners drafted Warner in the third round out of BYU in part because of his ability to guard tight ends, running backs and even slot receivers in the passing game as an outside linebacker.

But Warner has spent most of his time on the inside for the 49ers and is filling the void created by the two-game suspension that has sidelined Reuben Foster.

Now instead of being counted on to show off his coverage skills in space, Warner will need to take on much bigger offensive linemen in the run game for San Francisco.

"I feel like it's kind of my natural position, you could say," Warner said. "Obviously, I didn't do a lot of that in college. But just being out there, I feel like if I wasn't as natural, I probably wouldn't be doing as well as I am 鈥?and being in the position I'm in."

Playing middle linebacker comes with lots of responsibility as Warner will be the man relaying the defensive calls from coordinator Robert Saleh to the rest of the defense.

It's a task he welcomes and that his coaches feel he is more than prepared to handle.

"He was one of, if not the smartest interviews I've ever had personally at the combine for a linebacker," Saleh said. "He's picked it up well. He's got great command of it. He's got a long way to go. I don't want to crown him quite yet, but he's a rookie, he's going to have his peaks and valleys, but we have great confidence in him."

Warner said he never doubted he was physical enough to play in the box and said most of the critics who said he couldn't just hadn't seen him do it. Saleh credited San Francisco's scouts for finding plays from Senior Bowl week and other games that showed that Warner was willing to take on the contact that he will have to deal with in the middle of the NFL defense.

Saleh said that showed up again in the preseason and he has no questions about Warner's physicality and ability to tackle.

The bigger challenge this week might come in dealing with Minnesota's offense that relies heavily on run-pass options that make life difficult on linebackers and has star running back Dalvin Cook healthy again after last year's season-ending knee injury.

Warner said he has studied film of Cook from last year and Eagles games from last year to try to get a sense of what kind of offense new coordinator John DeFilippo runs. He particularly watched how Philadelphia played against Atlanta and the Chargers last season since those teams run a similar defensive scheme to San Francisco's.

Dealing with the RPOs that the Niners are anticipating will be key to their success.

"It puts stress on the defense as a whole if you're not prepared for it," Warner said. "So that's why we're kind of making some adjustments to make sure we're not getting hit in certain areas where we're not protected."

NOTES: LB Malcolm Smith (hamstring) is doubtful. ... LB Dekoda Watson injured his hamstring in practice and will miss the game. ... T Erik Magnuson (hamstring) is also out Sunday.