Bosio Is in Complete Control Against Angels

Chris Bosio simply dominated the game from start to finish.

After allowing the first two batters to reach base, Bosio struck out the side en route to an 86-pitch, complete game for his club-record 10th consecutive victory and career-high 16th victory as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Angels, 4-0, Thursday night.

The Brewers’ pitching staff has thrown 20 consecutive shutout innings.

Bosio (16-5) threw 71 strikes and only 15 balls in his fourth complete game of the season. He gave up five hits and struck out a season-high nine batters, one shy of his career high.

“I don’t like throwing a lot of pitches,” Bosio said. “I had pretty good command of the strike zone today. I had a good slider tonight.”

Bosio cruised through the first five innings, yielding two hits, but he gave up a lead-off single to Luis Polonia in the sixth. Polonia took second on a wild pitch but when Damion Easley singled to right, a strong throw from Darryl Hamilton to catcher B.J. Surhoff got Polonia.

Bosio got out of the inning by striking out Tim Salmon for the third time and getting Lee Stevens to ground out.

“The guys picked me up,” Bosio said. “They’ve been doing that all year. Not just for me, for everybody. That’s why we’re having the season we’re having.”

The Brewers, 41-26 since the All-Star break, scored three times off Bert Blyleven (8-10) in the second inning on RBI singles by Surhoff, Scott Fletcher and rookie Pat Listach.

Paul Molitor’s run-scoring single in the fifth finished the scoring for Milwaukee, which trails the Toronto Blue Jays by 3 1/2 games in the AL East.

Toronto defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 8-2, Thursday night to reduce its magic number to six.

“I’m not pitching against Bosio,” Blyleven said after losing his third consecutive start. “I’m pitching against the Brewers. They’re swinging the bat real good and things are going their way.

“Obviously, they’re not going our way.”

The Angels suffered their 13th shutout of the season and sixth consecutive loss at Milwaukee.

“We’re not swinging the bats well at all,” Angel Manager Buck Rodgers said. “What Milwaukee faced was a weak hitting team in a slump.”