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Weeks' heroics lead Brewers past Reds

Apr 9, 2008 - 5:05 AM By JR Radcliffe PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- The Milwaukee Brewers overcame another blown save by Eric Gagne.

Gagne allowed a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning, but Rickie Weeks' game-winning single in the 10th propelled the Brewers to a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.

The Brewers were one strike away from a 2-1 win, but Corey Patterson hit his third home run of the season to right field off Gagne - tagging the closer with his second blown save in three attempts.

"Maybe I tried too much for the strikeout instead of going with my strength," Gagne said. "I think I had him set up for a changeup I didn't throw. I just got a little greedy. You can't take it back now."

Gagne avoided further damage by striking out Ken Griffey Jr. It was similar to the situation on Opening Day in Chicago, when Gagne allowed a game-tying, three-run homer to Kosuke Fukudome in the ninth.

Milwaukee ultimately won that contest and did the same Tuesday, when J.J. Hardy led off the 10th with a single off reliever David Weathers (0-1).

Hardy advanced to second on a sacrifice and, after Jason Kendall singled, Weeks came through with a single to left field.

"I've had a couple at-bats against Weathers, and he's always been a cutter-slider guy," Weeks said. "So I sat on the cutter-slider and try to drive it somewhere."

It was Weeks' first hit of the day after going 0-for-3 against Reds rookie phenom Johnny Cueto.

"The kid's got some stuff, with a pretty good slider and changeup," Weeks said. "What more can you ask for?"

The clutch hit made a winner of Salomon Torres (1-0), who worked a scoreless 10th inning.

"We won the game ... that's the difference between not sleeping and sleeping," Gagne said. "Chicago was one of those days where I didn't throw strikes. Today, I threw a lot of strikes. I got to 2-2, and I had a changeup in my mind. (Catcher Kendall) called a changeup and I shook it off. That's going to teach me a little bit."

Bill Hall snapped a 1-1 tie by leading off the seventh with a solo shot off Cueto, who followed up a remarkable debut with another strong effort.

Cueto raised eyebrows Thursday by becoming the first pitcher since 1997 to throw five perfect innings in his major league debut debut. He also became the first pitcher in history to record 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk in a debut.

In this one, he was just as good, allowing two runs and five hits with eight strikeouts. Again, he did not walk a batter.

"He was throwing strikes, quality strikes, and he only made one mistake all night," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "That was a hanging breaking ball to Billy Hall. You don't see him miss those. Other than that, he pitched a great game tonight. ... He's a pretty poised young man. He deserved to win this ballgame."

Hardy finished with three hits, including the rally starter in the 10th.

"I think I saw a little of (Cueto's) performance of his first outing and I was a little intimidated by the way he was throwing," Hardy said. "He has really good stuff. My two hits (prior to the 10th), I broke both my bats, so it's not like I squared him up."

Cueto's counterpart, Jeff Suppan, was nearly as good. Suppan allowed one run and six hits in seven innings, with one strikeout and two walks.

The righthander threw six scoreless innings before Patterson's two-out RBI single narrowly eluded the glove of Weeks in the seventh.

The Brewers have won four straight and six of their first seven games for the first time since 1998.

"What we've been able to accomplish in seven games, yeah, there are some (nice) things, but I don't think we're surprised by it," Suppan said. "If we keep our focus, we have a lot of ways we can beat teams."