Omar Narváez broke-up an opponent¡¯s bid for a no-hitter for the second time in three nights and smashed the three-run home run that kept the Brewers in the game.

But the man didn¡¯t get much help.

Narv¨¢ez¡¯s effort went for naught in a 5-3 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night, where Brett Anderson saw a perfect start come apart in a three-homer fourth inning, and Keston Hiura swung through down-the-middle fastballs on another hitless night, and Devin Williams didn¡¯t complete his first inning of 2021, but he did do something that happened only once in all of ¡®20 on the way to the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Williams allowed an earned run.

Those unfortunate events added up to the Brewers¡¯ third loss in four games to start the season, and continuing worry about an offense that hasn¡¯t produced many highlights aside from a late-inning rally against the Twins on Opening Day that was aided by a pair of Minnesota misplays and a free runner on second base in extra innings.

¡°I mean, guys are working hard. It¡¯s not like we haven¡¯t stopped working,¡± Narv¨¢ez said. It¡¯s just not happening now. I¡¯m really confident in our team. I think everybody is going to come together.¡±

Here are the three things to know about another fruitless night:

1. They aren¡¯t hitting

The Brewers had four hits on Monday and have 10 total hits in their three losses. Through 143 plate appearances -- small sample alert -- Milwaukee¡¯s 31 weighted runs created plus ranks 29th of 30 teams. The club¡¯s .163 batting average is third-lowest, but it¡¯s ahead of the Cubs¡¯ .153.

Within those numbers, the Brewers are not just struggling to score, they are struggling to merely get a hit off a starting pitcher. On Saturday, the Twins¡¯ Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos took a perfect game into the fifth in Milwaukee and had a no-hitter into the eighth before Narv¨¢ez smacked a single. On Monday in Chicago it was another right-hander, Trevor Williams, who was perfect into the sixth before Narv¨¢ez hit a 67.1-mph ground ball to the left side, away from the Cubs¡¯ infield shift, for a single that started Milwaukee¡¯s first threat.

An inning later against Cubs reliever Jason Adam, Narv¨¢ez put his team on the board with his first home run of the season. Like Opening Day, the Brewers scored with some help; Narv¨¢ez¡¯s home run came with two outs, two batters after Cubs second baseman David Bote missed a chance to turn a double play.

¡°We obviously need more runs,¡± manager Craig Counsell said. ¡°We just haven't gotten them so far.¡±

2. That escalated quickly for Anderson

After nine up, nine down on 32 pitches to start the game, Anderson surrendered four runs on a walk and three homers in a 33-pitch fourth, including a two-run home run for Willson Contreras and solo homers for Javier B¨¢ez and Bote.

¡°I just didn¡¯t have the same action I had in the first three innings,¡± Anderson said. ¡°Those cost us the game. If I give up the two-run [homer], I can live with it, but those next two shouldn¡¯t happen.¡±

Asked for his take on the Brewers¡¯ lack of run support so far, Anderson said, ¡°Obviously, it¡¯s early. Nobody¡¯s going to cancel and punt the season after four games or whatever. Yeah, I think guys are pressing and might be trying to hit the three-run homer with nobody on base, but we have a talented group out there and we¡¯re going to score some runs. I like our club. Unfortunately, I put us in a big hole there and we weren¡¯t able to crawl back out of it.¡±

3. Williams ¡®knocks off rust¡¯

Devin Williams was going to pitch on Monday regardless of the score. After an abbreviated Spring Training coming off a shoulder injury, he had not worked in a full week since an appearance in an exhibition game at Globe Life Field on March 29.

When he did take the mound in a 4-3 game in the seventh, Williams threw 22 pitches to five batters. He walked the first (Jake Marisnick), surrendered an RBI triple to the third (Eric Sogard) on a good changeup way below the zone, and hit the fifth (Contreras) in the head with a 93-mph fastball. Thankfully, Contreras was OK.

The earned run matched opponents¡¯ output against Williams in all of 2020, when he logged 27 innings in 22 appearances and became the third player in Brewers history to win his league¡¯s Rookie of the Year Award.

¡°We haven't put together a really full ballgame yet, but we're four games into it,¡± Williams said. "No one's hitting the panic button yet, that's for sure, which was probably a different scenario last year with it being only 60 games. I mean, we're still getting used to each other, still learning to play together, still trying to put together a complete game from the first inning to the ninth. So, we're still working.¡±