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Hardy lifts Brewers over Padres in 11

Sep 6, 2008 - 5:13 AM By Dave Cotey PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- CC Sabathia did all he could to stop the Milwaukee Brewers' bleeding, but eventually he needed some help.

Sabathia pitched seven strong innings and J.J. Hardy knocked in the winning run in the 11th inning as the Brewers beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2, on Friday to snap a four-game losing streak.

Hardy's single off Padres reliever Brian Falkenborg (2-3) drove in Craig Counsell, who had reached on a fielder's choice while attempting to sacrifice, and moved to third on Ray Durham's single.

"I had some chances tonight, but I wasn't disappointed with my (previous) at-bats," said Hardy, who finished 1-for-6. "I did the same thing (in the last at-bat) that I did the last couple of at-bats, just see the ball and hit it hard."

The 28-year-old Sabathia exited with a 2-1 lead, but was denied his 10th win against no losses since joining the Brewers on July 7, when reliever Eric Gagne surrendered a leadoff home run to Brian Giles in the eighth that tied the score at 2-2.

"I thought the seventh would be his last inning," Giles said of Sabathia. "I think he had 110 pitches or so. It's getting late in the year. He gave them an opportunity to win and the bullpen's done a nice job for them. ... It's one of those games that's disappointing to lose, but we had our work cut out for us with him taking the hill."

Sabathia had thrown 106 pitches before being lifted. He has thrown at least 103 pitches in 10 of his 12 starts with the Brewers, including a high of 130.

"I felt like that was enough," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "I didn't want to take him past 120 pitches today. I just can't keep doing that. So I made a decision that I'd go with Gagne."

Gagne escaped further damage by getting the final two outs with two runners on. Three other relievers, including Brian Shouse (5-1), held the Padres scoreless over the final three innings. Shouse threw one pitch, getting Luis Rodriguez to hit into a double play in the top of the 11th.

Sabathia, who nearly pitched a no-hitter Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowed five hits and one run with nine strikeouts before being lifted.

"We won the game. That's the most important thing," Sabathia said. "That's all we're trying to do in September - get wins and try to get in the playoffs."

On Wednesday, major league baseball upheld official scorer Bob Webb's ruling that Andy LaRoche's ground ball in front of the pitcher's mound that Sabathia mishandled was indeed a hit. Against the Padres, Giles led off the game with a line-drive single to right.

"I came in and told (teammate) Rickie (Weeks) there won't be any controversy today," Sabathia said. "I just tried to battle and keep us in the game."

Sabathia helped himself at the plate with two hits, including a single that scored Bill Hall with two outs in the fourth against Padres starter Josh Geer that gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead.

In the previous half-inning, the Padres scratched out a run when Rodriguez doubled, moved to third on a flyout and scored on Adrian Gonzalez's fielder's choice.

Jason Kendall added an RBI hit for the Brewers (81-60), who moved to within four games of the slumping Chicago Cubs (85-56) in the National League Central Division and maintained their four-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies (77-64) in the NL wild card race.

Giles had his sixth four-hit game for the Padres, who were 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

"We put a little stress on Gagne but couldn't get that extra knock," Padres manager Bud Black said. "We couldn't get that clutch hit. On the other hand, they came up with the hit at the end."