Brewers edge Padres; Stairs sets HR mark

Baseball Betting Lines

08/21/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Dickerson had two hits and two runs batted in and Mike McClendon worked three scoreless innings to earn his first major-league win as Milwaukee downed San Diego, 6-5, in the middle meeting of a three-game set.

Ryan Braun hit his first home run since July 24 while Prince Fielder singled, scored a run, drove in a run and walked twice to lead the Brewers to a fourth straight win.

McClendon (1-0) allowed one hit, walked three and struck out three in his second big league outing. John Axford tossed 1 2/3 scoreless frames to garner his 19th save of the season for Milwaukee, which evened the season series at three games apiece.

"The first night I thought my sinker was definitely on. I could put it where I wanted to. Tonight, I had to mix it up and just see what happens," said the rookie right-hander when asked to compare his first two outings. "It was pretty exciting" describing what it felt like to get his first career win. "That was one of the best games I've ever seen or ever been a part of."

Kevin Correia (10-8) took the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits and four walks with three strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings for the Padres, who have lost two straight after a five-game win streak.

Matt Stairs' two-run pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning cut the Brewers' lead to 6-5 and was the 21st of his career to establish a new record.

Alcides Escobar doubled with one out in the first and scored the game's first run on a two-out single by Fielder.

Escobar and Fielder walked around a Braun single to load the bases with nobody out in the third for Casey McGehee, who delivered a sacrifice fly to plate Escobar to push the lead to 2-0. Lorenzo Cain singled to reload the bases for Dickerson, who drove in Braun with a ground ball out.

San Diego used a Ryan Ludwick single and walks to Chase Headley and Yorvit Torrealba to load the bases with nobody out in the fourth. Chris Denorfia followed with a two-run double to left to cut the lead to 3-2 and chase Chris Narveson from the hill.

McClendon took over and walked Scott Hairston to reload the bases before a base hit by Corriea plated Torreabla to tie the game. However, the visitors were unable to push across any more runs after David Eckstein and Miguel Tejada bounced into force plays at the plate and Adrian Gonzalez struck out.

Narveson was charged with three runs on four hits and three walks in three- plus innings of work in his first career start against San Diego.

Fielder started the fifth inning with a walk, moved to second base on a McGehee single and to third on a Cain fielder's choice grounder that also brought Correia's night to an end.

"It wasn't a great outing, obviously," commented Correia. "I definitely had some opportunities to turn it into a decent start but they had a different approach then I thought they were going to have. They waited on my off-speed stuff and that's where they got all of their hits. It was a good mindset for them and I just wasn't up to the task."

Joe Thatcher was brought on to face Dickerson, who delivered a sacrifice fly to push Fielder across with the go-ahead run. Cain stole second and scored when Jonathan Lucroy singled into right field to make it a 5-3 game.

Braun's two-out solo shot to left-center off Ernesto Frieri in the sixth extended the home team's lead to 6-3.

After Zach Braddock tossed a scoreless seventh inning, Kameron Loe assumed the hill for Milwaukee in the eighth. Denorfia singled with one out and scored when Stairs followed with his blast to right field. Loe was lifted after the next pitch to Will Venable and replaced by Axford.

Venable singled and stole second but was left stranded when Tejada struck out to end the frame. Axford then set down San Diego in turn in the ninth to end the game.

Game Notes

Stairs and Cliff Johnson had shared the record for pinch-hit homers with 20 before coming into Saturday's game...Milwaukee's Corey Hart did not play in the game due to tightness in his right hamstring that caused him to leave Friday's game...McGehee has 24 RBI during August...He finished 2-for-3 for his 34th multi-hit game of the season...Braun snapped a string of 87 at-bats without a long ball since his prior home run off Washington's J.D. Martin...He finished 2-for-4 to collect his 44th multi-hit game of the season...Eckstein was activated off the 15-day disabled list prior to the game...He had been sidelined since July 21 with a right calf strain...Correia had won his last three starts overall and his last three road turns before falling Saturday night...Gonzalez went 1-for-5 and had a five-game multi-hit streak at Miller Park snapped...San Diego is 22-7 against the NL Central. Milwaukee is 48-6 when leading after seven innings.