Aug 27, 2008 - 1:07 AM
0 shoutsBy James Walsh PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Ben Sheets kept the St. Louis Cardinals' bats quiet while the Milwaukee Brewers made some noise with theirs.
Sheets threw six scoreless innings and the Brewers exploded for seven runs in the ninth en route to a 12-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
Ryan Braun blasted a two-run homer amongst three hits while Prince Fielder collected three hits and two RBI for Milwaukee (77-55), which won its fifth straight to go a season-high 22 games over .500 and open a 4 1/2-game bulge over St. Louis (72-59) in the National League wild-card scramble.
"We're playing great," said Braun, who is batting .491 against the Cardinals this year. "I think we're really hitting on all cylinders. It starts with starting pitching. Offensively, a lot of guys are contributing, and our bullpen has been very consistent as well. If we continue to do that we'll be in great shape."
Jason Kendall drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double and pinch hitter Bill Hall parked a two-run home run to put things out of reach in the ninth.
Sheets (12-7) matched a career high in notching his 12th win, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four. It was only the second victory in the last nine starts for the four-time All-Star.
"(Sheets) pitched really, really good," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "He's had some tough-luck starts in his last five or six starts. He hasn't really pitched that bad, we just haven't scored that many runs."
"I'm very happy with the results," said Sheets, who won for the sixth time in 20 decisions against St. Louis. "I feel like I've had some success against them but it's nice to get the win. Tonight was a good one."
Brian Shouse, David Riske, and Eric Gagne tossed an inning apiece to seal Milwaukee's eighth shutout.
J. J. Hardy singled to start the seventh before Braun connected with a full-count fastball from St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer (11-5) to give Milwaukee a 5-0 cushion. It was the seventh homer this season against the Cardinals for last year's Rookie of the Year.
"Braun is a pretty good hitter," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "You look at his numbers, they're astronomical for a kid that's been in the league a year and a half. He's a superstar-type offensive player."
Wellemeyer lacked the sharpness he has displayed of late, losing for the first time in nine starts. The righthander surrendered five runs - four earned - in six innings with eight hits and two walks.
"I felt pretty good out there today," Wellemeyer said. "They just put the bat on the ball and the ball happened to fall where they needed it."
"We had chances but overall they were better than we were today," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "Everything that had to happen didn't happen for us and did happen for them. We had some early chances but Sheets made the pitches."
St. Louis has now lost seven straight to Milwaukee and is 4-10 versus the Brewers.
From the Bleachers
-
MILWAUKEE: 12
ST. LOUIS: 0
Final
Aug 26 11:29 PM -
NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY BILL HALL (15) TO CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 9TH OFF JAIME GARCIA SCORED JASON KENDALL.
CURRENT SCORE: MILWAUKEE 12, ST LOUIS 0
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: J HARDY (.284, 2-FOR-5)
Aug 26 11:10 PM -
NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JASON KENDALL SCORED COREY HART, MIKE CAMERON AND
CRAIG COUNSELL.
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, J KENDALL ON SECOND, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MILWAUKEE 10
ST LOUIS 0 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: R WEEKS (.229, 0-FOR-1)
Aug 26 11:06 PM -
NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MIKE CAMERON SCORED PRINCE FIELDER.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, M CAMERON ON FIRST, C HART ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MILWAUKEE 7
ST LOUIS 0 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: C COUNSELL (.232, 3-FOR-4)
Aug 26 11:01 PM -
NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY COREY HART SCORED RYAN BRAUN.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C HART ON SECOND, P FIELDER ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MILWAUKEE 6
ST LOUIS 0 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: M CAMERON (.254, 0-FOR-3, HBP)
Aug 26 10:57 PM -
NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY RYAN BRAUN (33) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 7TH OFF TODD WELLEMEYER SCORED J.J. HARDY.
CURRENT SCORE: MILWAUKEE 5, ST LOUIS 0
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: P FIELDER (.270, 1-FOR-3, 2 RBI)
Aug 26 10:12 PM -
NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY ALBERT PUJOLS ALLOWED RAY DURHAM TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C HART ON FIRST, R BRAUN ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MILWAUKEE 3
ST LOUIS 0 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: M CAMERON (.256, 0-FOR-1, HBP)
Aug 26 9:42 PM -
NL
AT ST LOUIS - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY PRINCE FIELDER SCORED J.J. HARDY.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MILWAUKEE 2
ST LOUIS 0 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: C HART (.284, 0-FOR-1)
Aug 26 8:55 PM -
NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MILWAUKEE 1 1 3 0
ST LOUIS 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: MIL - BEN SHEETS
STL - TODD WELLEMEYER
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: S
Aug 26 8:28 PM
