It turns out the solution to the Brewers’ trouble scoring off starting pitchers was this: Travis Shaw at the plate, then Freddy Peralta on the mound.

Shaw powered a refreshing change of pace Tuesday with the first home run of his second stint in Milwaukee, a three-run shot in the first inning that allowed Peralta and the Brewers’ pitching to finally relax in a combined one-hitter for a 4-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

• Benches clear

“I remember my first game, he hit a homer, too,” said Peralta, referring to his epic Major League debut on Mother’s Day in Denver in 2018. “He’s always hitting homers or a double or maybe a base hit in the great moments like today.

“He’s there, always, when we need a big hit.”

How long had it been since the Brewers were ahead in a ballgame? Try Opening Day, when Lorenzo Cain scampered home on Orlando Arcia’s bouncer for a walk-off win in the 10th inning -- and the Brewers’ first lead all day. They lost their next three games without holding a lead in any of them, while going 12-for-76 (.158) with one extra-base hit and two RBIs against opposing starting pitchers. Even Brewers manager Craig Counsell, while urging against pressing the panic button so early in a 162-game season, said his team had to be better against starters.

Shaw gave everyone an opportunity to breathe.

His shot off Cubs starter Adbert Alzolay gave the Brewers a better than 75% win expectancy, according to Statcast, and marked Milwaukee's first big swing at rewriting the early-season narrative that their 2020 troubles at the plate followed them into 2021.

Peralta (one hit, eight strikeouts in five scoreless innings), Brent Suter (three hitless innings in relief) and Brad Boxberger (hitless inning in his Brewers debut) made the lead hold, and Omar Narváez provided extra breathing room with a solo home run, his second homer in as many nights.

“I completely understand why there are questions and how the narrative begins to build,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said Tuesday afternoon. “But I’m not going to change our thought process or our evaluation of the team after four games.”

It was the 19th time in franchise history that Brewers pitchers surrendered one hit or fewer in a game. Playing from ahead didn’t hurt. Peralta struggled with a tight strike zone and some wildness early but allowed little hard contact while throwing a steady diet of fastballs and sliders -- a rather dramatic transformation from the player Shaw met in 2018 when Peralta arrived in the Majors throwing almost all fastballs. Seven of Peralta’s eight strikeouts Tuesday came on sliders.

“Travis’ home run was badly needed. It gave Freddy some breathing room,” Counsell said.” On a night with the wind blowing out like it was, I didn’t think it was going to be that low-scoring of a game but both sides pitched pretty well.

“Tonight’s hit [from Shaw] was huge. Three-run homers are game-changers. He has the ability to do that. The way the division stacks up with right-handed pitching, it’s suited for him. And just a sidebar, he played a great first base tonight [after moving over from third in the sixth inning]. There were some sneaky good plays he made over the last half of the game.”

The Brewers signed Shaw to make an impact, the likes of which he delivered regularly in 2017 and ‘18 while topping 30 home runs each year for the Brewers following a trade from Boston. But Shaw slumped badly in ‘19 and was cut loose, then spent ‘20 trying to rediscover the line drives in his swing while with Toronto.

Shaw re-signed with the Brewers on a Minor League deal at the start of Spring Training and won a job. With Tuesday’s trade that sent Arcia to the Braves, Shaw is even more important in the Brewers’ infield picture.

“It's tough to see Arcia go. This would have been year four [with them together], and his energy, his smile is contagious,” Shaw said. “He's still super young and he's got a whole career ahead of him. I know he'll be good. It kind of opens up a spot here and I'm just trying to kind of make the most of it whenever I get those ABs.”

That’s what he did Tuesday, when the Brewers needed it.

“Everything's kind of magnified early in the season. Guys can feel that at times, but I mean, it's Game 5,” Shaw said. “You go 3-for-4 in a game and everything's all right. We score nine in one game and everything's going to be all right. We're in a good spot.”