CC Sabathia gave the Brewers everything they could have hoped for in his first week as their new ace. The hitting was a bonus.
Sabathia homered in his second start for Milwaukee, a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
Pinch-hitter Craig Counsell hit a game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth to help make Sabathia a winner in his first National League complete game.
“CC brought the excitement, struck out the side in the ninth inning,” said Bill Hall, who scored the winning run. “We wanted to go out and give him a win in the ninth inning. So we had the excitement, we had the momentum. It’s a great way to end the first half and, hopefully, it continues on Friday.”
Sabathia went deep off Reds starter Homer Bailey in the third, his third career home run and second this season. Sabathia became the first pitcher to hit home runs in both leagues in one season since Earl Wilson did it in 1970 for Detroit and San Diego, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
In other NL games, it was: Houston 5, Washington 0; St. Louis 11, Pittsburgh 6; Philadelphia 6, Arizona 3; San Francisco 4, Chicago Cubs 2; Atlanta 12, San Diego 3; L.A. Dodgers 9, Florida 1, and N.Y. Mets 7, Colorado 0.
After allowing run-scoring sacrifice flies to David Ross in the second and Adam Dunn in the third, Sabathia (2-0) shut down Cincinnati, striking out nine batters, all from the fourth inning on. He struck out the side in the ninth.
“I kept us in the game, got out of some jams and pounded the strike zone after that,” Sabathia said. “I just try to go out and help the team win.”
The Brewers head into the All-Star break in third place in the NL Central, five games behind Chicago and a half-game behind St. Louis.
The Reds lost leadoff hitter Jerry Hairston, who had to be carried off the field after straining his right hamstring running out a bunt single.
He led off the third inning by bunting toward third. About a quarter of the way to first, he pulled up and limped across the bag. He made it to first safely, then fell over clutching his upper right leg.
Manager Dusty Baker, Joey Votto and trainer Mark Mann carried him off. Hairston will have an MRI in Cincinnati on Monday.
“I tweaked it a little bit,” Hairston said. “I think I was more scared than anything. My hamstring just locked up on me really, really bad. Maybe I’m not drinking enough water. I’m hoping that will be it.”
David Weathers (2-5) was the loser.
Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 3
At Philadelphia, Pat Burrell hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Phillies maintained their 1/2-game lead over the Mets in the NL East heading into the All-Star break.
Chase Utley and Ryan Howard singled and Burrell followed with his 23rd home run, connecting against Chad Qualls (2-7). Pedro Feliz hit a solo homer one out later.
Ryan Madson (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to get the win.
Giants 4, Cubs 2
At Chicago, Tim Lincecum tossed eight strong innings to hand fellow All-Star Ryan Dempster his first loss at Wrigley Field, leading San Francisco over Chicago.
Dempster (10-4), one of eight Cubs selected for Tuesday’s game at Yankee Stadium, entered with a 10-0 record in 11 home starts this season, but was upstaged by another brilliant start by Lincecum (11-2). The Giants right-hander struck out nine, allowed one run and six hits and also drove in a run with his first career triple.
Cardinals 11, Pirates 6
At Pittsburgh, Aaron Miles drove in five runs with a home run and a triple and St. Louis held off a Pittsburgh comeback.
Troy Glaus completed a 10-for-13 weekend with a home run.
Franquelis Osoria (3-3), brought in to protect the Pirates’ one-run lead in the seventh, allowed five of the six batters he faced to reach base.
Russ Springer (2-0), Kyle McClellan and Ryan Franklin combined for 3 1-3 scoreless innings in relief of Joel Pineiro.
Braves 12, Padres 3
At San Diego, All-Star catcher Brian McCann homered and drove in three runs to help Atlanta rout San Diego in the rubber game of the three-game series.
Rookie Jorge Campillo tossed six strong innings to even his record at 4-4.
Padres starter Randy Wolf (6-9) gave up six runs and six hits in five innings.
Dodgers 9, Marlins 1
At Los Angeles, Chad Billingsley struck out a career-high 13 without walking a batter and the Dodgers used a six-run first inning to beat Florida, avoiding a four-game sweep.
Billingsley (9-8) allowed a run and five hits over seven innings.
Andrew Miller (5-9) lost his fourth straight decision.
Astros 5, Nationals 0
At Washington, Brandon Backe pitched seven-plus innings and helped himself with a pair of hits to lead Houston over Washington.
Backe (6-9) raised his batting average to .345 while lowering his ERA to 4.76. He scored after leading off the third inning with a double, then singled and scored in the seventh.
Ty Wigginton hit his eighth home run of the season and Carlos Lee had three RBIs for the Astros.
Nationals starter Odalis Perez (2-7) allowed three runs and nine hits over six innings.
Mets 7, Rockies 0
At New York, Carlos Beltran hit a three-run homer, Mike Pelfrey provided the latest dominant pitching performance and the New York Mets won their ninth straight.
Carlos Delgado added a two-run homer for the Mets, who trail Philadelphia by a half game after being 5 1/2 games back in the NL East on July 4.
Pelfrey (8-6) allowed just six hits over eight innings with five strikeouts, and didn’t walk a batter for the second straight game.
Joe Smith worked the ninth to run the streak of scoreless innings by Mets relievers to 19 1-3.
Mark Redman (2-5) gave up five runs and eight hits in 3 1-3 innings.
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