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Brewers blank Braves behind Weeks, Suppan

May 29, 2008 - 5:59 AM By David Cotey PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) - Rickie Weeks rewarded Jeff Suppan for his best start of the season.

Weeks' RBI triple off reliever Blaine Boyer snapped a scoreless tie and lifted the Milwaukee Brewers to a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Miller Park on Wednesday.

J.J. Hardy led off the eighth by drawing a walk off Braves starter Jo-Jo Reyes and moved to second on Jason Kendall's sacrifice bunt, the first time a Brewer reached second base.

After Boyer struck out pinch-hitter Joe Dillon, Weeks delivered a triple into the left field corner for the Brewers, who have won four of their last five games.

"Everybody was hitting their spot," Weeks said. "That's the name of the game, so the hitters were kept off balance by great pitching from 'Supp' and Reyes, so you have to tip your cap to them. But we came out on top at the end."

Solomon Torres pitched a perfect ninth four his fourth save.

"Anytime you have a pitchers duel the reason it is a pitchers duel is because the pitchers are throwing the ball really well," said Brewers manager Ned Yost, who won his 400th career game.

Suppan (3-4) allowed four hits and walked five. Of his season-high eight innings, just two were clean and the Braves had two runners on in four of them. But the veteran righthander induced two double plays and struck out a season-high seven.

"Tonight it was about making pitches," Suppan said. "The defense helped me out tremendously and we were able to get that run late, which obviously is key."

Braves catcher Brian McCann, who struck out three times, felt Suppan benefited from home plate umpire Mark Wegner's liberal strike zone.

During McCann's at-bat in the eighth inning, Wegner called for Suppan to deliver a pitch with McCann standing outside the batter's box disputing a previous called strike.

"He can put the ball where he wants, and if he's getting the calls (he was getting), it's like the hitter has no chance," McCann said.

Reyes (2-3) lasted a career-high seven innings and set a career-high with nine strikeouts, including six looking. He allowed only two singles, walked three and retired 14 in a row during one stretch.

"I was just spotting my fastball," Reyes said. "That's a big key in my arsenal. It felt good out there today."

The 23-year-old lefthander rebounded from a rocky outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he allowed three home runs and seven earned runs in just five innings.

"He pitched super," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He popped strike after strike all night long. For him, it was a great start."

The Braves have lost seven of their last nine road games and fell to 2-14 in one-run contests this season, including 0-10 on the road. They have lost 17 consecutive one-run road games dating to August 10, 2007.

Atlanta has also scored three runs or less in five of its last six games.

"We've got a great hitting team and we should not be in any damn rut," Cox said. "We had the guys on; we were always one hit away with two outs."