ST. LOUIS(AP)
CC Sabathia threw a three-hitter, his third straight complete
game for his new team, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis
Cardinals 3-0 on Wednesday night.
Ryan Braun had four hits, lacking a double for the cycle, and
J.J. Hardy hit his 14th homer for the Brewers, who have won seven
straight. Milwaukee won the first three games of this four-game
series behind stingy pitching, limiting the Cardinals to six
runs.
The Brewers have homered in 19 straight games, tying the
franchise record set in 1996, and have 30 home runs in that
stretch.
Hardy, who is 8-for-14 in the series, hit his first homer since
July 10 with one out in the fifth off Braden Looper (9-8) for the
game's first run. A single, a hit batsman and Rickie Weeks'
sacrifice fly off Kelvin Jimenez made it 2-0 in the sixth and Braun
homered off Jason Isringhausen leading off the ninth.
It was more than enough for Sabathia (4-0), who followed up a
four-hitter over Cincinnati and an eight-hitter over San Francisco
with another gem, matching his career best for hits allowed with
his third career three-hitter and 22nd complete game. The 6-7,
290-pound left-hander has won all four starts since the Brewers
acquired the 2007 AL Cy Young winner from Cleveland. He has won
seven straight decisions overall in his last nine starts.
After walking Brendan Ryan on five pitches to start the first,
Sabathia retired 17 consecutive batters before Ryan's
line-drive single just to the right of first baseman Prince Fielder
with two outs in the sixth. Ryan Ludwick followed with an infield
hit down the third-base line that Bill Hall could only knock down,
but Sabathia dealt with his only bit of trouble by getting Albert
Pujols on a fly out to medium center.
Sabathia struck out seven, fanning Ludwick and Pujols to start
the ninth as an indication he wasn't losing any steam, and
walked two.
Despite the attraction of Sabathia, the Cardinals had a run of
10 consecutive sellouts after the All-Star break end with paid
attendance of 41,513. The last game to not sell out was July 2
against the New York Mets and Pedro Martinez, a three-time Cy Young
winner.
Looper lasted five innings, allowing a run and seven hits. He is
0-3 in his last five starts. The Brewers stranded seven runners
during his stint, leaving the bases loaded in the third and two on
in the fifth.
The Brewers are one win away from a perfect 7-0 trip, and are
27-26 on the road this season. They haven't had a winning
record on the road since 1999, and were 32-49 last season.
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