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Wednesday, Aug. 16 8:05pm ET
Brewers get first sweep of Reds | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Jeff D'Amico was impressive even without his best stuff. The Milwaukee right-hander earned his seventh straight victory and Richie Sexson homered for the second straight game as the Brewers completed their first sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a 5-1 victory Wednesday night. "You hope to go out there with your best stuff every time, but tonight it wasn't there," D'Amico said. D'Amico (9-4) scattered eight hits and two walks in seven innings, striking out two. "I wasn't making quality pitches," he said. "It was a battle, just a mess out there." Sexson, playing in his 16th game since being acquired from Cleveland, hit the first pitch he saw from Rob Bell (5-7) for his fifth homer, following a two-out single by Geoff Jenkins. That was all D'Amico needed in improving to 7-0 with a 1.15 ERA in his last nine starts. "When you go out there without your best stuff and get people out, that's the sign of a good pitcher," said Curtis Leskanic, the last of three relievers who finished off the victory. D'Amico allowed a run in the fifth on Dante Bichette's two-out double over the head of center fielder Marquis Grissom. The Brewers had a chance to add to their lead in the fifth after D'Amico led off the inning with his second major league hit, a double over the head of Ken Griffey Jr. in center field. D'Amico was safe at third on a fielder's choice as Ron Belliard reached on a sacrifice attempt. Two outs later, reliever Scott Sullivan walked Sexson before getting Jeromy Burnitz on a called third strike. The Brewers made it 3-1 in the sixth. Charlie Hayes singled and Luis Lopez was hit by a pitch with one out. Both advanced on Sullivan's error on a pickoff throw, before an attempted suicide squeeze by D'Amico went awry as Hayes was tagged out at the plate by catcher Jason LaRue. Belliard's bloop single scored Lopez. Both teams squandered several scoring chances, as the Reds stranded two runners in each of the second through fourth innings before leaving the bases loaded in the fifth. The Reds finished the series 1-for-26 with runners in scoring position. "We're getting runners in scoring position, but we're not delivering," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "We've got four or five guys in the lineup close to .300, but they're not getting hits when we need them, on most occasions. "I thought we were going to get (D'Amico) early. We were hitting the ball hard off him." But D'Amico persevered and the Brewers added two insurance runs in the eighth on an RBI single by pinch-hitter James Mouton and Grissom's sacrifice fly. "Instead of going into the ninth 3-1 and making it a nail-biter, it was good to get some extra runs," Sexson said. The loss dropped the Reds, who were 3-3 on their road trip, 6½ games behind St. Louis in the NL Central. The Cardinals beat Chicago 5-1 earlier Wednesday. "To come home 3-3," Bell said, "it's disappointing for us." Griffey said, "We just didn't get the job done. We didn't win." Game notesReds captain Barry Larkin played his 1,800th game. ... Sexson has driven in at least one run in seven straight games, matching his career high. ... Bell notched his second hit of the season, a solid single in the third inning. ... Cincinnati OF Dmitri Young left the game in the fifth inning after bruising his right shoulder when he tripped over Sexson at first base on a groundout in the fourth. ... The Brewers activated SS Mark Loretta from the disabled list after the game and optioned SS Santiago Perez to Triple-A Indianapolis. ... Reds pitchers struck out 12 Brewers. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Cincinnati Clubhouse Milwaukee Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 8 Anaheim 6
Milwaukee 5
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