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Hart, Fielder homer in Brewers' 3-2 win

May 30, 2009 - 8:19 AM By COLIN FLY AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE(AP) -- Struggling Corey Hart said his swing felt so good, he didn't need to watch the results. Hart's big hit picked up a somber teammate, too.

Hart homered in the seventh after starter Braden Looper left and the veteran right-hander outpitched Johnny Cueto to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-2 victory over Cincinnati on Friday night, snapping the Reds' four-game winning streak.

"I knew it was gone when I hit it," Hart said. "It's a weight off your shoulders to do anything good for a change."

It also helped Looper, who spent his off day on Thursday attending the funeral of his grandfather, 84-year-old LaVerne Looper of Granite, Okla. Looper said his grandfather acted as a father figure after his parents divorced when he was 1.

LaVerne Looper bought Braden his first Wilson A2000 glove and took him when he was a teen to a Wichita State pitching camp where he eventually played college baseball.

"Essentially, he was my father, he was the guy who got me started in baseball," Looper said. "That home run by Corey was a gift."

The Brewers, who had hit .204 with just two homers while going 1-5 in their last six games, only got three hits, but two of them left the ballpark.

Hart's go-ahead homer came in the seventh inning came after Prince Fielder hit a two-run shot in the first.

"It's special," said Looper, who got the game ball from Trevor Hoffman after the all-time saves leader notched his 12th consecutive save since joining the Brewers. "It's one of the games I'll remember for a long time."

Looper (5-3) and Cueto were sharp, matching zeros and mistakes until Hart's hit.

Hart, hitting .176 in his previous 17 games, drove Cueto's slider 435 feet over the Milwaukee bullpen and just below the motorcycles that sit in left-center field.

"When you make those kind of mistakes to hitters like that, you're going to pay the consequences," Cueto (4-3) said through an interpreter. "I missed my location on both of them."

That was all Milwaukee needed.

Brewers reliever Todd Coffey worked around consecutive singles to start the eighth after a nice double play by second baseman Craig Counsell and Hoffman allowed a two-out single but struck out Jay Bruce to end it.

"He's the best closer in the game for a reason," Bruce said. "I swung at a bad pitch and tonight he got me."

Mets 2, Marlins 1, 11 innings=

At New York, Omir Santos singled in the winning run in the 11th and homered in the fifth, leading the Mets to their fourth straight win and sixth in seven games.

Gary Sheffield led off the 11th with a single off Brian Sanches (1-1), After David Wright struck out, Sheffield stole second and went to third when Ronny Paulino's throw went into center field. Fernando Tatis was hit by a pitch before Santos dumped Sanches' first pitch into left field to end the game.

Cubs 2, Dodgers 1=

At Chicago, Koyie Hill homered and Kosuke Fukudome hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning for Chicago.

Chicago's Ted Lilly (6-4) and Los Angeles' Chad Billingsley (6-3) each opened with six scoreless innings.

Matt Kemp homered with two outs in the top of the seventh for the Dodgers. The Cubs bounced back in the bottom half and ended Los Angeles' four-game winning streak.

Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth for his eighth save.

Phillies 5, Nationals 4=

At Philadelphia, Shane Victorino had four hits, Jimmy Rollins had two hits and two RBIs and Philadelphia tied a season high with 16 hits.

Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless ninth for his 10th save. Josh Willingham homered for Washington.

Rockies 3, Padres 0=

At Denver, Jason Marquis pitched eight sharp innings, making Jim Tracy's debut as Colorado's manager a success.

Tracy was promoted to interim manager Friday following the firing of Clint Hurdle, who had been in charge of the Rockies since early in the 2002 season.

Behind a six-hit performance from Marquis (7-3), the Rockies snapped a three-game skid. Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save.

Astros 6, Pirates 1=

At Pittsburgh, Brian Moehler pitched his first complete game in nearly nine years, and rookie Edwin Maysonet homered while going 4 for 4 and driving in four runs, helping Houston end a seven-game losing streak.

Moehler (2-3) was two outs away from his first shutout since Aug. 30, 1999, until the Pirates scored on Jason Jaromillo's run-scoring grounder in the ninth.

Braves 10, Diamondbacks 6=

At Phoenix, Yunel Escobar hit a three-run homer, Jair Jurrjens doubled home two runs and Atlanta snapped a four-game losing streak.

Escobar's shot off Jon Garland (4-4) capped a five-run third inning and gave the Braves a 10-1 lead. Arizona made it 10-5 two innings later, chasing Jurrjens (5-2) after five innings. Chad Tracy homered and had four RBIs for Arizona.

Giants 4, Cardinals 2=

At San Francisco, Matt Cain pitched six-hit ball into the seventh inning, and Pablo Sandoval drove in a pair of runs in San Francisco's fourth straight win.

Cain (6-1) gave up two runs - one earned - on six hits in 6 1-3 innings. Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his 11th save.