• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Reyes picks up first win as Cardinals sweep Brewers

Jul 29, 2007 - 4:23 AM By Jim Walsh PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) - Anthony Reyes' fortunes changed for the better. Chris Capuano will have to wait for another day.

Reyes pitched six strong innings to break a string of 12 consecutive regular-season losses dating to last year, as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2, to complete a sweep of their day-night doubleheader Saturday.

Reyes (1-10), who was recalled from Class AAA Memphis between games, avoided being the first pitcher since Jose Lima to lose 13 straight decisions. Reyes lost his last two decisions in 2006.

"It's nice to get that weight off your shoulders," Reyes said. "It's nice to get that one out of the way and I'm looking forward to the next one."

Lima's string occurred as a starter with Houston in 2000 during a 7-16 season. The win also guaranteed Reyes would not become the first player in Cardinals history to start a season with 11 consecutive losses.

It was by far Reyes' best start since he allowed only one run over eight innings in last year's Game One World Series victory in Detroit. The righthander needed only 67 pitches in six innings, allowing two runs and two hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

"(Reyes) really rose to the occasion," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. "(Milwaukee) has a very good team, you can't give him enough credit. That win was so well deserved and a long time coming. It made it a really special day."

Reyes retired 12 Brewers in a row between a leadoff double by Prince Fielder in the second and a two-out solo home run by Corey Hart in the sixth.

"I tried to be aggressive like I always do," Reyes said. "Just keep the ball down, elevate when I need to, and try to pay attention to the hitter's swing. For the most I did and it worked out."

"(Reyes) threw the ball well," Milwaukee center fielder Bill Hall said. "More importantly he threw strikes. He kept the ball down and didn't leave a lot of stuff up."

Ryan Franklin added two shutout innings and Jason Isringhausen a scoreless ninth to record his 20th save.

For Capuano (5-7), though, it was more of the same as the Brewers have lost in each of his last 12 starts. After starting the season 5-0, the lefthander has endured a combination of injury, poor performance and bad luck.

Capuano, who had given up only three earned runs in 15 innings over his last two starts, was tagged with three runs by the Cardinals in a shaky first inning.

With runners on first and third, Scott Rolen's two-out double plated David Eckstein for a 1-0 lead. Jim Edmonds followed with a soft single to left, plating Juan Encarnacion and Rolen and giving St. Louis a quick 3-0 lead.

Capuano was solid after that, shutting out the Cardinals until they struck again in the seventh. After a leadoff double, Eckstein was sacrificed to third. Capuano was removed for Matt Wise, who gave up RBI singles to Albert Pujols and Encarnacion.

"Cappy did a really nice job of bouncing back and recovering from a bad first inning," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said.

However, Capuano, who allowed four runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, is winless since May 7.

"I really don't think about that streak," Capuano said. "I think there was a point with Milwaukee that I reeled off seven or eight wins in a row. I don't see any reason why that can't happen too."

Hart and Geoff Jenkins drove in runs for the Brewers, who fell to 2-5 on their current eight-game road trip and have seen their lead over the Chicago Cubs shrink to 1 1/2 games in the National League Central Division.