MILWAUKEE -- Kevin Brown's splendid sinker made life miserable for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Brown took a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning, and Fred McGriff and Paul Lo Duca homered as the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to 10 games Sunday with a 5-1 victory.
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| Kevin Brown is 'devastating' to win his fifth consecutive decision.(AP) |
Brown (6-1) struck out eight and walked one in winning his fifth consecutive decision over seven starts since April 18.
"He was basically unhittable for eight innings," Lo Duca said. "He got a little tired in the ninth, but he had a nasty, nasty sinker today."
The pitch was so dominant that the Brewers hit only three balls out of the infield against Brown.
"He was on top of his game and just overmatched us," said Milwaukee manager Ned Yost, who described Brown's sinker as "devastating."
John Vander Wal singled in the fifth for the first hit off Brown, who was lifted after giving up singles to pinch-hitter Brooks Kieschnick and Eric Young to start the ninth. Tom Martin finished the four-hitter, allowing a sacrifice fly to Geoff Jenkins.
McGriff hit his 486th homer in the sixth, a two-run shot off Ben Sheets (4-4). Lo Duca added a three-run drive in the eighth.
McGriff hit a grand slam Saturday night, when Hideo Nomo pitched a two-hit shutout to beat the Brewers 6-0.
The Dodgers' winning streak is tied for their fifth-longest since they moved to Los Angeles in 1958. The franchise record is 15 consecutive wins from Aug. 29 to Sept. 6, 1924, when the team was in Brooklyn.
Starting pitching has keyed the run. The starters are 10-0 with a 1.62 ERA during the streak, and the Dodgers held Milwaukee scoreless for 24 innings before Jenkins' sacrifice fly in the ninth.
"It's a matter of pressure -- when everybody is pitching well the pressure is less," Brown said. "Even if I have an off day, you know the next guy is pitching well. It's not do-or-die."
Sheets matched Brown for the first five innings, but gave up a homer to McGriff in the sixth after Jolbert Cabrera hit a bloop double earlier in the inning. It was McGriff's eighth home run this season.
The Dodgers made it 5-0 in the eighth when Cabrera was hit by a pitch, McGriff reached on an error by second baseman Young and Lo Duca hit his third homer of the year.
Sheets went eight innings, giving up five runs, four earned, on six hits. He struck out three.
Notes
- The Brewers optioned LHP John Foster to Triple-A Indianapolis after the game. They made no corresponding move, but LHP Valerio De Los Santos will rejoin the team Tuesday night in San Diego. De Los Santos has been on the disabled list since April 27 with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder.
- The Brewers went 5-8 on their season-long 13-game homestand.
- Milwaukee RHP Jayson Durocher pitched one inning for Triple-A Indianapolis in a rehabilitation assignment, giving up one hit with two strikeouts.
- The Brewers are 4-16 in day games.
- Brown is 13-5 in his career against the Brewers, his most wins against any team.
- Brewers SS Royce Clayton is hitting .126 (15-for-119) since April 15.
- The Dodgers' streak started May 14 with a win against Atlanta, and has included three-game sweeps of Florida, Colorado and Milwaukee.
- Two of the hits off Brown were infield singles.
- In the fifth year of a $105 million, seven-year contract, Brown is 50-24 with Los Angeles.
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