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Padres stay in wild card lead, beat Brewers

Sep 29, 2007 - 5:42 AM By David Cotey PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) - The Milwaukee Brewers had their playoff fate decided Friday, but that of the San Diego Padres remains up in the air.

Khalil Greene drove in three runs and Greg Maddux picked up his 14th win as the Padres beat the Brewers, 6-3.

The Brewers loss, coupled with the Chicago Cubs' 6-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, eliminated them from playoff contention. They fell to three games behind the Cubs with just two left.

"It's been fun, it's been intense," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "We've been giving our very best effort so we knew, when the season ended we could walk out of here knowing we left everything out on the field. We gave everything we possibly had to give to try to win this thing. We've benefited from this experience. I think it will help us next year."

Meanwhile, the Padres (89-71) increased their lead to two games over the New York Mets (87-73) and the Colorado Rockies (87-73) in the National League wild card race and remained one game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (90-70) in the NL West.

"We're worried about tomorrow," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Our focus is not Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, or the playoffs. We'll come out tomorrow ready to play."

San Diego grabbed the lead for good when Adrian Gonzalez led off the top of the sixth inning with a double to right-center field off reliever Claudio Vargas (11-6). One batter later, Greene drove him in with a double into the left field corner to give San Diego a 4-3 lead.

"I'm happy to be in the lineup and be a part of what we're doing here," Greene said. "We've played well throughout (the season). We haven't had any tremendous highs or lows."

With one out in the top of the eighth, Gonzalez walked off former teammate Scott Linebrink, and Greene followed with a home run into the right-center field seats that put the Padres up, 6-3. Greene has eight hits and eight RBI in the last four games.

"Khalil's been steady all year," Black said. "The last month, six weeks, his game has been taken up a notch, both in the field and at the plate. He is unfazed by all of this, but I've noticed that every so slightly, he has risen to the occasion."

Maddux (14-10) left after allowing three runs on six hits through five innings.

"As long as you've got the lead, you don't have to worry about the other teams," Maddux said of the playoff race. "Taking care of ourselves the last few days helped."

The Padres bullpen nearly let Maddux down in the sixth as the Brewers loaded the bases with one out against Joe Thatcher, but Cla Meredith got pinch hitter Craig Counsell to ground into an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

"I wasn't going to hold them anymore, that's for sure," Maddux said. "Cla had the pitch of the night, getting the double play."

Trevor Hoffman struck out the side in the ninth for his 42nd save.

Maddux, the future Hall of Famer, spotted the Brewers a two-run lead in the first when Ryan Braun knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly and Corey Hart plated another with a two-out single.

Hart belted a solo home run off Maddux in the fourth to tie the score, 3-3.

Brewers starter Chris Capuano, who is riding a franchise record 12-game losing streak, allowed three runs and five hits while walking two and striking out three over five innings.

The lefthander cruised through the first three innings before allowing three in the third, when he gave up a single to Kevin Kouzmanoff with one out and loaded the bases with consecutive walks to Gonzalez and Greene. Josh Bard drove in one run with a single, Geoff Blum hit a sacrifice fly and Brady Clark added a run-scoring single to give the Padres a 3-2 lead.

Capuano, the former All-Star lefthander, began the season 5-0, but the Brewers have lost the last 22 games in which he has appeared - 17 starts, four relief appearances - dating back to May 13.

The Brewers (81-79) still need a win in the final two games to finish with a winning record for the first time since 1992.

"We've still got to do our job," Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder said. "We've got games to play, and we're going to try to win them."