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Sheets sharp as Brewers blank Cards

Aug 27, 2008 - 5:07 AM By 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.