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Marcum, Gomez help Brewers edge Dodgers

May 17, 2011 - 6:04 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Shaun Marcum won his fifth straight decision and Carlos Gomez made a run-saving catch in the outfield, lifting the Brewers to a 2-1 victory over the Dodgers to start a two-game series.

Gomez robbed Juan Uribe of a solo home run in the second inning, sprinting from his position in centerfield to the warning track in left-center and leaping to make the catch over the wall.

"That pitch to Uribe wasn't very good," said Marcum, "but Carlos saved it."

It helped Marcum (5-1) remain unbeaten since his Milwaukee debut on April 2. The right-hander allowed one run on five hits and a walk while striking out four in seven innings for the Brewers, who pushed their winning streak to four games after sweeping the Pirates over the weekend.

Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks hit RBI singles for Milwaukee, which is 7-2 since a seven-game losing streak. Weeks' base hit scored the winning run in the sixth inning.

Matt Kemp hit a sacrifice fly for the Dodgers, who have lost three in a row and had a four-game winning streak against the Brewers snapped.

"We're in that zone where our confidence is down a little bit offensively. We need to fight and scratch for every run," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "We gave ourselves chances to score, but we still need that big hit."

Los Angeles starter Jon Garland (1-3) took the loss in six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and four walks with one strikeout.

The Brewers won despite going 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and leaving 14 men on base. They stranded runners at the corners in each of the last two innings.

Defense reigned, and not just on Milwaukee's side.

Dodgers first baseman James Loney made a sliding catch in foul territory near the Brewers dugout on Gomez's pop-up in the first inning.

But it was nothing like Gomez's run-saving play in the second. Uribe belted the ball high enough that Gomez was able to reach the wall and time his jump perfectly.

"I played Juan two or three steps toward left field," said Gomez. "I didn't think it was going that far. I timed it, jumped and got it."

The spectacular defense continued in the top of the third, when Dodgers left fielder Jay Gibbons raced back on a long fly ball hit by Weeks, jumping to catch it as he crashed hard into the wall.

Still, the Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the inning after Gomez was hit by a pitch, stole second base and scored on Fielder's two-out single.

Milwaukee loaded the bases in the fourth, but got nothing out of it, and Jamey Carroll led off the bottom of the inning with a single for LA's first hit of the game.

Carroll went to second on Aaron Miles' base hit, moved to third on Andre Ethier's ground out and scored on Kemp's sacrifice fly to center to tie the game at 1-1.

Milwaukee took a 2-1 against Garland in the sixth, sparked by Corey Hart's leadoff double. He moved to third on Jonathan Lucroy's fly out to center and scored on Weeks' single to left.

But the Brewers stranded runners at the corners in the eighth inning when Matt Guerrier struck out Gomez.

Guerrier surrendered a leadoff double to Ryan Braun in the ninth and intentionally walked Fielder before he was replaced by Scott Elbert, who came in to get Casey McGehee on a fly ball. Mike MacDougal relieved him and got the last two outs.

John Axford struck out two in a perfect ninth for his ninth save of the season.

Game Notes

The Dodgers were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded five men on base...Marcum spent his first five seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.