Ben Sheets pitched eight solid innings, Mike Rivera hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth and the Milwaukee Brewers beat San Francisco Giants 5-3 Sunday to complete a four-game sweep.
The Giants have lost nine of 11 to fall off the pace in the NL playoff picture. They entered play Sunday seven games back in the NL West and six behind in the wild-card race. They have been outscored 93-50 in their last nine games.
The win was Milwaukee's fifth straight, their longest winning streak since they won five in a row to start the season.
Sheets (6-7) yielded two runs and five hits. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter.
Francisco Cordero allowed Pedro Feliz's one-out RBI single in the ninth before getting Eliezer Alfonzo to ground into a double play with the bases loaded. It was Cordero's 16th save in 16 chances since joining the Brewers on July 28.
Matt Cain (13-11), who was 5-1 in his previous seven starts with a 1.52 ERA, gave up five runs and seven hits with five walks in seven innings. He struck out seven.
Barry Bonds did not play for the Giants one day after passing Hank Aaron for the National League home run record (734).
Giants right-fielder Moises Alou picked up his 2,000th career hit with a bloop double in the second inning. He became the 244th player to reach the milestone. Alfonzo drove in Alou with a double to put the Giants in front 1-0.
The Brewers went ahead 2-1 in the bottom half on David Bell's two-run homer and pushed across three more in the sixth. Cain walked the bases loaded with two outs and Rivera, the backup catcher, lined a double high off the wall in left-centre to drive in Bill Hall, Geoff Jenkins and Bell.
Cain, who led all NL rookies in wins and strikeouts entering play Sunday, dropped to 5-6 with a 5.57 ERA in 14 road games. At home, he is 8-5 with a 3.06 ERA.
Sheets has thrown at least six innings in nine straight starts since leaving a game Aug. 5 after the first inning with an injury. In those nine starts, Sheets has struck out 65 and walked six.
Milwaukee finished the season 48-33 at home _ the most wins for the team in any season at Miller Park.
Notes: Alou now needs just one more double to reach 400 in his career. ... Giants 2B Ray Durham was scratched from the lineup due to the lingering effects of fouling a ball off his knee Saturday. His replacement, Tomas De La Rosa, picked up his first RBI since 2000 with a second-inning double. ... Sunday's crowd of 23,049 boosted the Brewers' season attendance to 2,335,643, the third-highest mark in team history behind 2001 and 1983.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
