Trade paying off
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.
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."
At Philadelphia, Pat Burrell hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Phillies maintained their Z\x-game lead over the Mets in the NL East heading into the All-Star break.
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.
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.
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.
At Washington, Brandon Backe pitched seven-plus innings and helped himself with a pair of hits to lead Houston over Washington.
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.
Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched six scoreless innings and the Red Sox reclaimed the division lead, defeating the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 Sunday.The Red Sox moved a half-game ahead of Tampa Bay and took the lead in the East for the first time since June 28. The World Series champs trailed by a season-high five games last weekend, then won five of six while the Rays lost seven in a row.
Jhonny Peralta drove in three runs to help Cleveland complete a four-game sweep.
At Detroit, Justin Verlander tossed seven sharp innings and Detroit beat Minnesota to avoid a four-game sweep.
At Toronto, A.J. Burnett came within two outs of a shutout, Marco Scutaro hit a three-run homer and Toronto beat New York for its fifth win in six games.
At Arlington, Texas, All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler extended his majors-best hitting streak to 25 games with three hits.
At Oakland, Calif., Erick Aybar's infield single drove in the winning run with two outs in the ninth.
