CHICAGO -- Following a hiccup in the opener of the series, the Brewers returned to the winning formula they've featured of late -- strong pitching, good defense and power hitting -- to bounce back with a 5-0 victory over the White Sox on Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Jesus Aguilar hit a two-run home run and Erik Kratz, Jonathan Villar and Lorenzo Cain added solo blasts to provide the offense.
Jhoulys Chacin (4-1) allowed just three hits in 5 2/3 innings for the win and the bullpen -- after allowing four runs in 2 1/3 innings the previous night -- was stellar. Josh Hader allowed just a walk in 1 1/3 innings and Taylor Williams finished up with two scoreless innings working out of a jam in the ninth with runners on second and third and no outs.

"We did a good job overall scoring runs," Cain said. "The pitching did a good job. That's what they've been doing all year, keeping us in games. But we would like to put up a lot more runs early on. Hopefully, we can turn it around tomorrow and score a lot earlier."
In the opener on Friday, the Brewers jumped out to a 3-0 lead before dropping an 8-3 decision. It was the first time this season the Brewers had lost when leading by two runs or more at any point during the game.
Kratz's homer tucked inside the foul pole down the left-field line for a 1-0 lead in the third, but White Sox starter James Shields (1-6) was able to wiggle out of big-time trouble in the fifth and sixth innings to keep the score tight.

In the fifth, Shields escaped with runners on the corners with no outs by getting Orlando Arcia to pop out in foul territory for the first out, and then striking out Cain and Christian Yelich. In the sixth, Aguilar got to third with no outs on a double and a wild pitch, but he was stranded as Travis Shaw popped out and Ryan Braun lined into a double play.
"We couldn't get 'em in from third, so we hit some home runs," manager Craig Counsell said.

Villar stroked a one-out homer in the seventh to make it 2-0. Cain then led off the eighth with a homer and two batters later, Aguilar's two-run shot off Jace Fry made it 5-0.

In fifth, Shields struck out Cain with a 69-mph curveball two pitches after getting a swing-and-miss on a 67-mph curveball. Cain's homer was on a 78-mph curveball and a 3-2 pitch.
"I was definitely looking for it 3-2, because he struck me out with it on the at-bat before that," Cain said. "I definitely wasn't used to it. It was slower than I thought, but 3-2, I just felt it in my heart he was gonna throw a curveball."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Strong up the middle: With the Brewers leading 1-0 and a runner on second with one out in the sixth, Chicago's Jose Abreu hit a hard grounder up the middle that appeared to be a game-tying hit. Villar made a diving stop to his right and threw out Abreu -- from the shortstop side of the bag -- for the second out.

"That was huge," Chacin said. "I was hoping for him to stop the ball, but he got the out. That was the game there. You can't let a guy come in there."
SOUND SMART
Hader extended his scoreless streak to 14 1/3 innings. The Brewers are 20-0 this season in games in which the left-hander has pitched.

UP NEXT
Brent Suter makes his 11th start and 13th appearance for the Brewers in the finale of the three-game series Sunday at 1:10 p.m. CT. The left-hander has won his past three starts with a 3.11 ERA (6 runs in 16 1/3 innings) during that span. Right-hander Dylan Covey, who earned his first Major League win on May 23 after dropping his first eight decisions, pitches for the White Sox.