MILWAUKEE -- After struggling in the minors during the first half of the season, Tyler Thornburgs turnaround since being called up to the majors by the Milwaukee Brewers has been remarkable. Kyle Gibson Twins Jersey . Sean Halton hit his first career grand slam and Thornburg allowed just two singles over six innings, leading the Brewers to a 7-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. Thornburg (3-1) struck out four and walked two as he reached six innings for the sixth straight start since being recalled from Triple A Nashville on June 29. He has allowed five earned runs in 36 innings as a starter and has also made 11 relief appearances for the Brewers, posting a 1.96 ERA. At Nashville, he was 0-9 with a 5.79 ERA in 15 starts. "He has been good in relief, hes been really good as a starter," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Its hard to explain. I know its an excuse, but I heard he had the worst luck you could have at Triple-A, but I wasnt there. "Hes confident. He gets a little wild at times and then comes back and makes great pitches. He has three really good pitches: a really good fastball, a good curveball and a great change-up. He can mix in the two off-speed pitches, depending on which is going well that day, and when you can do that and you have a lot of life on your fastball, youll pitch like he did today." Jimmy Nelson pitched two innings and Michael Blazek got the last three outs to preserve the four-hit shutout. Thornburg put most of the blame for his ineffectiveness at Nashville on himself. "I was a little upset being in Triple-A," said Thornburg, who made three starts in eight appearances last season with the Brewers. "Honestly I was kicking myself a little bit too much. Doing things I wouldnt necessarily do. Up here I stuck with my three good pitches and I am really trying to improve those." Haltons homer capped a five-run first inning off Chris Rusin (2-5). Jean Segura walked with one out and advanced to second on Jonathan Lucroys single. Aramis Ramirez singled in Segura. After Carlos Gomez flied out, Khris Davis walked to load the bases. Halton then drove a 3-2 pitch 370 feet over the right-field wall for his fourth home run. "It is just one of things," said Halton, who also hit a three-run game-ending homer Sunday to give the Brewers a 6-5 victory over the Reds. "In a couple months I will sit back and look (and say) that was a crazy week. It is unbelievable to get an opportunity to be in those situations let alone come through in them." Davis led off the fourth inning with his 10th home run to put the Brewers up 6-0. Milwaukee added a run in the fifth when reliever Alberto Cabrera hit Norichika Aoki, Ramirez walked and Gomez followed with an RBI double. Davis walked to load the bases again for Halton, but he struck out to end the inning. Ryan Sweeney was the only Cubs runner to reach second base with a double in the seventh off Nelson. The Cubs have lost seven of their last eight and are just 15-34 since July 29. "When I needed to make a pitch, I left it up and they hit it out of the yard," said Rusin. "Those are the games youve just got to learn from. Just keep the ball down is what I keep telling myself. But that first inning really hurt the team. Just took the life out of us. As a starting pitcher, you dont want to do that to a club." NOTES: Brewers SS Segura left the game after the first inning with what the team announced as a strained right hamstring. He is listed as day-to-day. "Its not bad but saying that, well see how many days its going to be," Roenicke said. "If he walks in here tomorrow and hardly feels anything, then we have a chance to get him back out there." ... The Brewers improved to 13-5 this season against the Cubs. Since 2011, they hold a 36-15 advantage. Bert Blyleven Jersey .com) - They didnt meet in the regular season, so Sam Houston State might be saying it won the de facto title game between the two Southland Conference co-champions Saturday. Nelson Cruz Jersey .A. Happs hold on a spot in the Blue Jays starting rotation is in question. https://www.cheaptwins.com/2092t-devin-smeltzer-jersey-twins.html . LOUIS -- To stay a step ahead of goaltenders, T.MINNEAPOLIS -- After three straight 100-loss seasons, the Houston Astros lineup is suddenly filled with sluggers who can change a game with one swing. Chris Carter and Jon Singleton hit their first career grand slams to power Houston to a 14-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. Carters slam in the seventh inning sailed over the limestone overhang in right field and gave Houston a 9-3 lead. Singleton lined a fastball off Glen Perkins over the right-field wall that made it 14-5 in the ninth. Dexter Fowler and George Springer also homered for the Astros. Houston has now hit 69 homers this season, well on pace to surpass last seasons total of 148, third-worst in the American League. "It puts more strain on the opposing pitchers," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "They feel like, I cant make a mistake here, I cant make a mistake here. That can drain on a staff." The only other time two Astros players hit grand slams in the same game was July 30, 1969, at New York when Denis Menke and Jimmy Wynn both hit slams in an 11-run ninth inning against the Mets. Houston players are also sensing a different vibe now that the lineup is filled with more power. "Its been fun. We like playing off of each other," Singleton said. "Thats definitely a bonus. When one person does well, it carries over and its contagious." Darin Downs (1-0) got the last eight outs as the third reliever to follow starter Colin McHugh, who fanned six and allowed one run over 4 1/3 innings. He walked five and was removed after throwing 101 pitches. Trevor Plouffe and Josh Willingham hit RBI singles as Minnesota made it 5-3 in the fifth, but couldnt get any closer before Carter and Singleton powered the game away. Houston batted around in the fourth inning, scoring three runs after Samuel Deduno (2-4) loaded the bases with nobody out by walking two batters and hitting another. The Astros have won seven of eight on the road and 11 of their last 15 overall as they try to snap a three-year streak of losing 100 games. It was the third time in club history Minnesota allowed two grand slams in the same game. The last time it happened was April 22, 1988, in Cleveland. "They got us today," Perkins said. "I think they swing hard in case they hit it, and they hit them today. Willians Astudillo Jersey. Theyre not as bad as people think they are. Gotta give credit to them the way they swing the bat and pitch the ball pretty well." The Twins also officially signed free-agent designated hitter/first-baseman Kendrys Morales on Sunday to bolster their inconsistent offence. But if Minnesota -- now three games under .500 -- wants to remain in the playoff race, its going to need better starting pitching. Deduno walked four and hit two while allowing five runs in three innings on Sunday, raising his ERA to 4.45. As a group, Minnesotas starters are 19-25 with a 4.97 ERA. "Not a good day pitching today. Used a lot of innings out there," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We still have three games to go (before the next off day), so well get through it. Thats the way it is. They killed it at the end." McHugh struck out four batters in a row during one stretch and extended his scoreless innings streak to a career-high 16 2/3 before Eduardo Nunez homered in the fourth. Springer, named American League rookie of the month after hitting 10 home runs in May, led off the eighth by hitting his second homer in three games. "Its nice to have other guys in the lineup who do the same thing and have more protection where guys cant just pitch around me or pitch around another guy," said Carter, who led Houston with 29 homers last season. "Theres another guy behind him always. Its good for all of us." NOTES: To make room on the roster for Morales, Minnesota released Jason Kubel, who appeared in 798 games over parts of eight seasons with the Twins, but was hitting .224 this year and just .158 since April. ... The Astros recalled LHP Rudy Owens to pitch out of the bullpen and sent Paul Clemens back to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the sixth time this season. ... The Twins unveiled a new bronze statue on the Target Plaza before the game: team mascot T.C. Bear. ... Jonathan Villar singled three times for Houston. ... Ricky Nolasco (4-5, 5.65 ERA) starts for the Twins against Torontos R.A. Dickey (6-4, 4.25 ERA) on Monday. ... Houstons Jarred Cosart (4-5, 4.16 ERA) faces Josh Collmenter (4-2, 3.63 ERA) to kick off a two-game series in Arizona on Monday. ' ' '