Cards stun Brewers; Maddux wins 350th

 
 
Published5/11/2008 12:05 AM

Eric Gagne no longer wants to be called the Brewers' closer. He's pitching his way out of that role, anyway.

The former NL Cy Young Award winner gave up a 2-run single with two outs in the ninth inning to Ryan Ludwick, and visiting St. Louis held on Saturday for a 5-3 victory over Milwaukee.

 

"I don't deserve that ninth inning right now. It's pretty simple," Gagne said.

He told reporters he doesn't need a "mental break" like Cardinals counterpart Jason Isringhausen asked for on Friday night.

"I don't need breaks. I need to keep going out there. I need results," said Gagne, who has a major league-leading 5 blown saves along with Isringhausen. "I get myself in a situation, in a jam, every single time I'm out there. You can't pitch like that."

Prince Fielder hit a tying homer in the eighth for Milwaukee, but the slumping Brewers botched a squeeze play later in the inning and lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Gagne (1-2) gave up consecutive singles to start the ninth. After Aaron Miles hit a 15-foot grounder that advanced the runners, Gagne intentionally walked Albert Pujols to load the bases with one out for Rick Ankiel, who fouled out. Ludwick grounded a single just past shortstop J.J. Hardy to give St. Louis a 5-3 lead.

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"Every time we get a little momentum, I come out there and kill that rally," Gagne said.

Padres 3, Rockies 2: Greg Maddux became the ninth pitcher in big-league history to win 350 games, reaching the plateau in his fifth try and leading San Diego to a win over visiting Colorado.

With Adrian Gonzalez hitting a 3-run homer and the Padres ending a mini losing streak, Maddux held the Rockies to an unearned run -- set up by his own throwing error -- and 3 hits over 6 innings.

The 42-year-old Maddux (3-3) improved to 350-217 in 23 big league seasons. It's another milestone to go along with his 4 NL Cy Young Awards, 1 World Series championship and a record 17 Gold Glove Awards.

Mets 12-1, Reds 6-7: Bronson Arroyo pitched 8 dominant innings to win a matchup of struggling pitchers and Jeff Keppinger had a career-high 5 hits to lift Cincinnati over host New York 7-1 in the nightcap of a day-night doubleheader.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 

In the opener, a 12-6 Mets victory, Carlos Beltran hit a bases-loaded triple and drove in 5 runs to back Johan Santana's first home win for the Mets. Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider hit back-to-back homers.

Pirates 5, Braves 2: Tom Gorzelanny shook off Mark Teixeira's 2-run homer in the first inning to shut out visiting Atlanta during the rest of his 7½ innings, and Jason Bay homered to lead Pittsburgh past the struggling Braves.

Marlins 11, Nationals 0: Dan Uggla drove in 5 runs and Andrew Miller allowed just 2 hits in 7 innings as visiting Florida rolled past Washington for its sixth straight win.

Giants 8, Phillies 2:ŒRandy Winn hit his first home run of the year, Aaron Rowand connected against his former club for the second time in just more than a week and the host Giants ended a season-worst five-game skid with a win over Philadelphia.

American League

Indians 12, Blue Jays 0: With fans taking home a Grady Sizemore souvenir blanket, Cleveland's center fielder offered up a few more souvenirs by sending a pair of baseballs into the seats for good measure. He homered twice and drove in 5 runs to support Aaron Laffey's sharp pitching in a romp over Toronto that sent the visiting Blue Jays to their fourth straight loss.

Sizemore had 3 hits, including a leadoff homer in a 6-run first inning against Dustin McGowan (2-3).

"It's exciting to start a game that way, but all homers feel good, I guess," Sizemore said.

Yankees 5, Tigers 2: Derek Jeter hit his first homer of the season and Darrell Rasner (2-0) pitched well as visiting New York ended a six-game losing streak to Detroit.

Jeter's homer ended a career-long drought of 128 at-bats to start a season.

"I could really care less," he said with a smile. "I'm just kidding. I wanted at least one."

Red Sox 5, Twins 2: Boston got an unexpected power surge from the bottom of their lineup to help Daisuke Matsuzaka (6-0) remain undefeated in a victory over host Minnesota. Coco Crisp and Jed Lowrie hit back-to-back homers to lead off the seventh inning.

Rays 2, Angels 0: Scott Kazmir pitched 6 scoreless innings and Tampa Bay beat visiting Los Angeles to hand Joe Saunders (6-1) his first loss of the season.

Rangers 6, Athletics 4:ŒMilton Bradley homered and drove in 3 runs as host Texas beat Oakland for its fifth straight win despite having a shutout streak end at 33 innings.

Orioles 6, Royals 5: Kevin Millar hit a 3-run homer and finished with 3 hits to help visiting Baltimore edge Kansas City on a rainy night.

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