Pitching Finally Holds Up for the Brewers

After being ripped for 26 runs in two games, the Milwaukee Brewers could ill afford to waste a well-pitched game.

Mark Loretta made sure they didn’t.

Loretta hit a run-scoring double against Carlos Reyes in the ninth inning as the Brewers beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2, Wednesday at Milwaukee after giving up a game-tying homer to Tony Gwynn in the top half of the inning.

“I knew Reyes’ basic strength was off-speed pitches, so I was really looking for a changeup or curveball the whole at-bat,” Loretta said. “I was just going to let the fastball go. I think I took a fastball for a strike. The pitch I hit was a curveball. I just was able to stay back and find the line.”

Milwaukee, which begins a three-game series at home Friday against first-place Houston, had lost four in a row, including 13-5 and 13-4 defeats against the Padres.

“You never want to say it’s a must win, because you don’t want to put that pressure on you,” Loretta said, “but this was definitely very important to finish off that losing streak and get ready for Houston.”

Gwynn connected against Doug Jones (2-1) for his fourth homer.

“That was a pretty good pitch, but Tony Gwynn’s that good of a hitter,” Brewer Manager Phil Garner said. “We threw him a fastball away for a strike and came back with a little slider down and in, and Tony Gwynn wrapped it around the foul pole.”

San Diego then loaded the bases when Greg Vaughn was hit by a pitch, Wally Joyner singled and Carlos Hernandez was hit by a pitch. Jones turned Archi Cianfrocco’s come-backer into a forceout at the plate, and Chris Gomez hit an inning-ending fielder’s choice to shortstop.

In the bottom half, Fernando Vina beat out a two-out bunt single against Reyes (1-1), Jeff Cirillo walked and Loretta followed with a double down the right-field line.

San Diego took a 1-0 lead in the eighth when Hernandez doubled and scored on a single by pinch-hitter Eddie Williams off Scott Karl, who gave up four hits through the first seven innings.

Cincinnati 4, Montreal 2--Dmitri Young homered and drove in two runs, and Mike Remlinger pitched seven solid innings at Montreal as the Reds won their third series in a row.

Young homered against Montreal starter Javier Vazquez (1-3) to lead off the sixth, giving Cincinnati a 3-2 lead. He also had a run-scoring single in the third.

Remlinger (3-3) gave up two runs on six hits, walked four and struck out six. Jeff Shaw pitched the ninth for his NL-leading 11th save.

The Reds got a break in the seventh that allowed them to score an insurance run.

Reggie Sanders drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second by Remlinger. Chris Stynes flied out to right and Sanders attempted to advance to third. Right fielder Vladimir Guerrero’s throw struck Sanders in the back and Sanders fell forward safely onto third base.

Willie Greene then singled home Sanders to give the Reds a 4-2 lead.

Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 0--Jason Schmidt held the Cardinals to two hits over seven shutout innings and Jermaine Allensworth hit an inside-the-park homer to lift the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

Jason Christiansen pitched the final two innings as the Pirates completed a two-game sweep.

The Pirates have won five in a row against the Cardinals, who are 1-5 on a 10-game trip. St. Louis, which finished with only four hits, has lost nine of 11 on the road since starting the season 5-2.

Schmidt (4-1) didn’t give up a hit until opposing pitcher Todd Stottlemyre’s one-out bunt single in the fifth. David Howard had a two-out double in the seventh before Schmidt left after throwing 120 pitches.

Schmidt was working on his first career shutout until being lifted after throwing 120 pitches.

“His pitch count got high. Actually, it kind of snuck up on me,” Pirate Manager Gene Lamont said. “He would have had to throw 150 pitches for a complete game, and I’m not going to do that.”

Philadelphia 7, Colorado 6--Bobby Abreu singled home the winning run in the 10th inning as the Phillies beat the Rockies at Philadelphia after wasting a five-run lead.

Chuck McElroy (0-1) walked Mike Lieberthal, pinch-hitter Alex Arias and Kevin Jordan in the 10th. With two out and a full count, Abreu singled, making him four for five with three runs batted in.

Larry Walker hit a pinch grand slam off Jerry Spradlin in a five-run sixth for Colorado that also included a run-scoring single by Kirt Manwaring. Todd Helton then hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth.

The Phillies tied the score in the ninth when Abreu drew a walk from Jerry Dipoto, advanced on a wild pitch and came around on a single by pinch-hitter Gregg Jefferies.

New York 8, Arizona 2--Jim Tatum singled in the go-ahead run in a seven-run eighth inning and Todd Pratt hit a bases-loaded triple to lead the Mets at New York.

The Mets (16-14) have won nine games in their final at-bat.

With Arizona ahead, 2-1, in the eighth, Carlos Baerga drew a walk from Clint Sodowsky (1-2), advanced on Rey Ordonez’s sacrifice and took third on a wild pitch.

Pinch-hitter Matt Franco walked, and Brian McRae hit what appeared to be an inning-ending double play to shortstop. But Jay Bell’s relay throw went into the Mets’ dugout as Baerga scored.