Reds beat Sabathia, put Brewers' hopes in jeopardy

Not even prized acquisition CC Sabathia could keep the Milwaukee Brewers in contention for the NL Central title. The wild-card race is looking pretty grim now, too.

Pitcher Micah Owings had a pinch-hit single off Sabathia with the bases loaded in the sixth inning — another blow-to-the-gut moment in Milwaukee's maddening month — and the Cincinnati Reds held on for a 4-3 victory Saturday that deepened the Brewers' angst.

Milwaukee's Mike Cameron was batting in the top of the seventh when the Chicago Cubs completed a 5-4 win over St. Louis at Wrigley Field, wrapping up their second straight NL Central title. All that's left for the Brewers is a long-shot try for the wild card that seemed to be in their back pocket when September began.

They've lost 15 of 19 in the month, blowing a 5 1/2-game lead in the wild-card race. Milwaukee is 2 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the playoff spot and has seven games left on its schedule.

The latest loss fit the profile of their disastrous month.

A fielding error enabled Cincinnati's comeback, a pitcher drove in the go-ahead run, and Brewers reliever Eric Gagne tripped and fell on the mound while throwing a pitch as the game wound down. The Brewers also left the bases loaded in the ninth.

What else could go wrong?

Sabathia (9-2) took the mound a day ahead of schedule, only the second time in his career that he's gone on short rest, to try to stop the slide. He took a 2-1 lead into the sixth, when first baseman Prince Fielder bobbled Corey Patterson's sacrifice bunt for an error that loaded the bases with none out.

Sabathia got the next two batters, and manager Dusty Baker decided to send up Owings for his second pinch-hit appearance since joining the Reds from Arizona to complete the Adam Dunn trade. Owings' inside-out swing sent a single to right field for a 3-2 lead, and struggling rookie Adam Rosales followed with a pinch-hit single for another run, ending Sabathia's outing.

The Brewers got Sabathia from Cleveland to help them keep up with the Cubs. His only losses for the Brewers came in his last two starts, contributing to their collapse.

Rookie Johnny Cueto (9-13) got his first victory in three starts since returning from a sore elbow. Francisco Cordero gave up a solo homer to Rickie Weeks in the ninth while improving to 32-of-38 in save chances.

The Reds hit so many home runs off Milwaukee's shellshocked pitching staff in the series opener — seven in all — that they exhausted their supply of celebratory fireworks. Their supplier couldn't make more because of damage from the remnant of Hurricane Ike, which blew threw last weekend.

So, there were no overhead fireworks when Cordero fanned Fielder with the bases loaded to finish it.

Notes:@ 2B Ray Durham was out of the lineup with a strained right hamstring, aggravated while he stole a base on Friday night. He's likely to miss Sunday's game as well. ... Reds rookie OF Jay Bruce was hit on the right hand by a pitch in the fourth. X-rays were negative. ... Owings is 2-for-2 as a pinch-hitter with the Reds. He also had an RBI double.

Fielder leads Brewers over Reds 8-1

Joe Kay

Sun Sep 21

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