CHICAGO -- Bill Hall's daring baserunning and another clutch pinch-hitting performance by Brooks Kieschnick sent the Milwaukee Brewers to victory.
Hall broke for second in the seventh and when Chicago's Matt Clement threw a wild pitch on the same play, he made it to third. That forced the Cubs infield to play in and set up Kieschnick's go-ahead RBI single in Milwaukee's 3-2 win Friday.
"It was really a weird play. I have never really been involved in a play like that," Kieschnick said.
With his teammates yelling for him to step off the mound and catch Hall between first and second, Clement delivered to the plate. The ball got by catcher Michael Barrett and hit plate umpire Larry Vanover in the shin guard as Hall made third.
"The umpire was the only one that stayed in there and he took it off his leg," said Kieschnick, now 9-for-27 with six RBI as a pinch-hitter when he's not pitching.
Kieschnick, a former first-round pick of the Cubs, was in an 0-2 hole when Hall broke for second.
"If I had eyes in the back of my head, I might have seen the guy take off," Clement said.
"He made up his mind he was going to go to the plate," said Hall, who entered the game in the bottom of the first because Wes Helms had an upset stomach.
"I had such a good jump that if he stepped off, I didn't think he would get me anyway. I think it would have shocked him that I was so close."
Brewers manager Ned Yost said Hall was almost too aggressive.
"He jumped the gun. You don't want that," he said. "If he steps off, he's out. You have to admit it was a heck of a jump, but normally we don't want our jumps to be quite that good."
Victor Santos (9-3) allowed four hits and two runs in six innings to win for the seventh time in his last eight decisions before three Milwaukee relievers pitched three hitless innings.
Dan Kolb had a perfect ninth for his 27th save.
Clement (7-9) lost his fifth straight decision, but the Cubs have scored just seven runs in his last six starts.
"I'm trying to keep the team in the game and I feel like I've been doing a decent job of that," Clement said.
After trailing 2-0 early, the Brewers tied the game in the sixth on Geoff Jenkins' 13th homer.
Derrek Lee singled in the second and Michael Barrett reached when his hard liner went past Hall at third for an error. A walk to Ramon Martinez loaded the bases before Clement poked an RBI single to right. Jose Macias followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
Hall's RBI grounder following a single by Keith Ginter and double by Brady Clark made it 2-1 in the fourth.
Lee showed why he is a Gold Glove first baseman by making three stellar plays. He raced to the dugout and reached low to snag a foul pop; went to the hole and fielded a grounder, throwing to first to complete the play while falling backward in the dirt, and made an over-the-head catch of a pop bunt.
Notes
An MRI done Friday on Chicago pitcher Mark Prior's right elbow revealed no structural damage. Prior has irritation in the lining of the bone of his elbow. He left Thursday night's game in the second inning when he felt discomfort in the elbow. ... The game was delayed for 13 minutes by rain in the top of the first. ... Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez missed his 10th straight game with a groin strain. ... Brewers SS Craig Counsell left the game in the sixth with a bruised right knee. He was hit by a pitch from Clement in the third. ... The Cubs activated RHP Todd Wellemeyer (sore shoulder) off the disabled list and sent infielder Brendan Harris back to Triple-A Iowa.
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