NewsCentrally focused: Brewers sweep Reds
Cameron's big bat, rock-solid relief lead way in finale win
By Cash Kruth / MLB.com
05/31/09 7:20 PM ET
MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee bats were hot early and the Trevor Hoffman-led bullpen continued its dominance as the Brewers powered their way to a quick lead and held on to beat Cincinnati, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon at Miller Park to complete a three-game sweep of the Reds.Brewers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo (5-2) got off to a quick start, getting eight of his first nine outs via strikeout, but he struggled with his command and was relieved with two on and one out in the sixth inning.
From there, relievers Mitch Stetter, Mark DiFelice and Hoffman held the Reds hitless, and Hoffman struck out the side in the ninth to clinch his 13th save in as many chances.
The bullpen's biggest out came with two outs and runners on first and third in the sixth inning, when Stetter struck out Cincinnati's Jerry Hairston Jr. to end the inning.
"Mitch Stetter came in and just absolutely got some big outs," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. "In particular, the strikeout of Hairston with a couple guys on in the sixth inning, which was a huge out."
With Sunday's 3 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, the Brewers' bullpen has now thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings.
Although the bullpen finished the show, the Brewers' offense started it in the game's first three innings.
Milwaukee put up two quick runs in the top of the first, when Mike Cameron singled home J.J. Hardy and Mat Gamel followed with a bloop single to score Ryan Braun. The hit broke an 0-for-16 stretch for Gamel, who finished with a pair of hits.
Cameron then hit a two-out, two-run homer off Reds starter Micah Owings in the third inning to make the score 5-1.
"Today, we scored early with Yo on the mound," said Cameron, who finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBIs. "That made it much easier to help us on to victory instead of trying to figure out how to score some runs. A big hit with two outs; those things pretty much give you a good chance to win ballgames."
The early scoring spree was it for the Brewers' offense. Only one of their eight hits came after the third inning, as 17 of the last 18 Milwaukee batters went down.
Gallardo (5-2) earned the win, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings, while Owings (3-6) gave up five runs on eight hits.
Despite striking out nine, Gallardo struggled with his command for much of the day. In the second inning, an Alex Gonzalez single loaded the bases with one out, but the 23-year-old struck out Ryan Hanigan and Owings to get out of the jam.
"It was very tough," said Gallardo, who threw 58 of his 97 pitches for strikes. "I went in the dugout and I was telling the guys I just felt like I had to fight myself out there on the mound. The whole thing was off one pitch and I was able to get it back, but I just wasn't consistent."
The Reds got their first run in the third inning when Hairston reached second on an error by Cameron and came around to score on an RBI single by Jay Bruce.
The error, a ball that popped in out and of Cameron's glove as he and Braun were converging in left-center field, was just his second in 167 games with the Brewers.
"That's a [crummy] way to get an error, but I was just trying to avoid him [Braun]," Cameron said. "I cut across in front of him while still reaching back. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, so I stepped in front of him because he was going at the same angle. ... That was kind of a long run for me, so I was taking a deep route, and he was, too."
Cameron's miscue was one of three Milwaukee errors in the game -- a bobbled grounder by Fielder and an errant pickoff throw by DiFelice, both in the seventh, accounted for the other two. The errors were the Brewers' first over their past six games.
"It wasn't one of our crispest defensive games," Macha said.
With the sweep of the Reds, the Brewers won a series after back-to-back series losses. And with two consecutive games with solid production from the lineup and lights-out relief from the bullpen, Macha is happy with a road trip looming.
"It's not like we were playing poorly, sometimes you go through streaks when you don't get a hit when you need it," Macha said. "But it [ended] up becoming a very good homestand. Four and two, [I'll] take that every time."
Cash Kruth is an associate reporter for MLB.com This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
