Freddy Peralta allowed one hit and struck out six batters and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 7-0 in the first half of a Monday doubleheader. All-Star pitcher Peralta (15-5, 2.78 ERA) shut Chicago out over six innings to help Milwaukee advance to an MLB-best record of 79-45.

The sky has been falling for a while on the north side of Chicago. Fans are unhappy and, on occasion, booing in Wrigley Field. After all, the Cubs had a 6 ½-game lead in the NL Central after beating the Brewers on June 17, humming along with one of the best offenses in baseball.

To twist the knife, the Brewers found themselves in an almost identical situation in the eighth inning, albeit against a less established pitcher. They squeezed a four-run rally out of Cubs reliever Gavin Hollowell’s three consecutive one-out walks.

Freddy Peralta allowed one hit and struck out six batters and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 7-0 in the first half of a Monday doubleheader.

Playing in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader, the Brewers responded from their first loss in 15 games with another victory, and the crowd of 38,971 featured an awful lot of Milwaukee faithful cheering on the hottest team in baseball (79-45).

SportsLine's model simulated Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs 10,000 times and revealed its MLB picks for Monday afternoon's Game 1 matchup at Wrigley Field in Chicago

The Chicago Cubs once had a strong lead in the National League Central. However, the Milwaukee Brewers entered Sunday with a nine-game lead.