Five errors keep Brewers from gaining ground on Cubs
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| Regular Season Series |
| San Diego leads 5-2 (as of Thu 9/27) |
| Fri 5/25 |
@SD 8, MIL 6 |
Recap |
| Sat 5/26 |
@SD 6, MIL 3 |
Recap |
| Sun 5/27 |
@SD 3, MIL 0 |
Recap |
| >Thu 9/27 |
SD 9, @MIL 5 |
Box Score |
| Fri 9/28 |
SD 6, @MIL 3 |
Recap |
| Sat 9/29 |
@MIL 4, SD 3 |
Recap |
| Sun 9/30 |
@MIL 11, SD 6 |
Recap |
| · Complete Schedule: Brewers | Padres |
| Scoring Summary |
| SDG | MIL |
 | 3rd | K Kouzmanoff grounded out to shortstop, S Hairston scored. | 4 | 0 |
 | 3rd | R Weeks homered to left. | 4 | 1 |
 | 4th | J Cassel grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, J Bard scored, B Clark out at second, G Blum to third. | 5 | 1 |
 | 5th | J Hardy singled to left, D Miller scored, G Gross to second. | 5 | 2 |
 | 7th | S Hairston reached on infield single to third, B Clark scored, O Robles to third, B Giles to second. | 6 | 2 |
 | 7th | A Gonzalez hit sacrifice fly to center, B Giles scored, S Hairston to third, K Kouzmanoff to second. | 7 | 2 |
 | 7th | K Greene singled to left, S Hairston and K Kouzmanoff scored. | 9 | 2 |
 | 7th | R Weeks homered to center, T Gwynn scored. | 9 | 4 |
 | 7th | R Braun homered to left. | 9 | 5 |
| · View complete Play-By-Play |
| Game Information |
| Stadium | Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI |
| Attendance | 34,918 (83.3% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 3:03 |
| Weather | indoors |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Brian Runge, First Base - John Hirschbeck, Second Base - Bruce Froemming, Third Base - Mark Wegner |
| A CLOSER LOOK |
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• Summary: Milwaukee had a golden chance to make up ground on the Cubs in the NL Central race, but couldn't get a grip (literally) on Thursday's game. The Brewers made five errors, their most in eight years, and Scott Hairston hit a tiebreaking, three-run double to lead the
Padres over Milwaukee 9-5 Thursday night.
 Hairston
• About those errors: Third baseman Ryan Braun made three errors while first baseman Prince Fielder and left fielder Geoff Jenkins made one each. Milwaukee, which allowed four unearned runs, hadn't made five errors in a game since Aug. 1, 1999 against Montreal.
• Hunt for October: While San Diego maintained its one-game lead in the NL wild-card race and stayed one game back of Arizona in the NL West, the Brewers failed for the second straight day to take advantage of a Chicago loss. The Cubs lead the NL Central by two games with just three games remaining.
• Emergency plan: Padres manager Bud Black said he planned to pitch ace Jake Peavy on three days' rest Sunday only if the Padres needed a win to clinch a tie for a postseason spot.
• Quotable: "We sit and watch the Cubs lose two nights in a row; not being
able to take advantage hurts a lot. We're in a rough situation." -- Brewers bench coach Dale
Sveum
-- ESPN.com news services
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Padres 9, Brewers 5
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Even though both teams are in the playoff picture, only the
San Diego Padres looked the part.
Milwaukee made five errors, its most in eight years, and
Scott Hairston hit a tiebreaking, three-run double to lead the Padres to a 9-5 victory over the Brewers on Thursday night.
| Division Magic Numbers |
|
The magic number is derived by adding one to the number of
remaining games and subtracting the number of games ahead in the
loss column from the second-place team. Here's where the leaders stand: |
| AL EAST |
| x-Red Sox | 2 |
| AL CENTRAL |
| x-Indians | Won division |
| AL WEST |
| x-Angels | Won division |
| NL EAST |
| Mets | 4 |
| Phillies | 4 |
| NL CENTRAL |
| Cubs | 2 |
| NL WEST |
| D-backs | 3 |
| x-clinched playoff spot |
"They had some miscues, and Hairston came up with a big hit down the line," Padres manager Bud Black said. "All throughout baseball this time of year, you have to make sure if you do get those breaks, you have to make them hold up and score some runs."
While San Diego (88-71) maintained its one-game lead in the NL wild-card race and stayed one game behind first-place Arizona in the NL West, the Brewers (81-78) failed for the second straight day to take advantage of a loss by Chicago.
The Cubs, who fell 6-4 to Florida, remained two games in front of the Brewers in the NL Central and saw their magic number to clinch the division fall to three.
"We sit and watch the Cubs lose two nights in a row; not being able to take advantage hurts a lot," said Brewers bench coach Dale Sveum, who filled in while manager Ned Yost served a one-game suspension. "We're in a rough situation."
Third baseman
Ryan Braun made three errors for the bumbling Brewers, who haven't been to the playoffs since 1982, and first baseman
Prince Fielder and left fielder
Geoff Jenkins made one each. Milwaukee, which allowed four unearned runs, hadn't made five errors in a game since Aug. 1, 1999, against Montreal.
"I was just inconsistent defensively at third base," Braun said. "I wasn't nervous. I wasn't pressing. It was just one of those things where I didn't get the job done."
San Diego arrived in Milwaukee for its season-ending, four-game series at 6 a.m. after winning Wednesday night in San Francisco. The Padres didn't seem sleepy, taking a 4-0 lead in the third.
Padres starter
Jack Cassel was chased after 4 2/3 innings as Milwaukee closed to 5-2. Former Brewer
Joe Thatcher (2-1) relieved with the bases loaded and retired Fielder on a grounder, then pitched a perfect sixth.
"It's bittersweet, I root for them any other time of year, but obviously not this weekend," said Thatcher, who was signed by the Brewers in 2005 while making $800 a month in the independent Frontier League. Thatcher was traded in the midseason deal that brought reliever
Scott Linebrink to Milwaukee.
"I like his stuff," Black said. "When we acquired him in the trade, our scouts and people who saw him, statistically what he had done, warranted a chance to do it at this level, and you never really know how it's going to play out."
Brewers rookie
Yovani Gallardo (9-5) gave up five runs -- three earned -- and five hits in five innings.
Rickie Weeks homered twice for the Brewers, who led the NL Central by 8 1/2 games in late June.
Before the game, the Brewers said
Chris Capuano will start Friday instead of ace
Ben Sheets, who has a hamstring injury.
San Diego went ahead in the third, when
Brady Clark singled, Cassel's bunt stayed fair down the first-base line for his first career hit,
Brian Giles singled to load the bases and Hairston doubled into the left-field corner. Hairston took third when Jenkins misplayed the ball, then scored on
Kevin Kouzmanoff's groundout.
Weeks homered in the bottom half, but Fielder booted
Josh Bard's leadoff grounder in the fourth, and Bard scored on Cassel's double-play grounder with the bases loaded for a 5-1 lead.
J.J. Hardy's RBI single chased Cassel in the fifth.
Cla Meredith hit Braun with a pitch, and Thatcher came on to retire Fielder after falling behind 3-1 in the count.
"I'm not going to sit here and say we had it the whole time, but as long as you're confident in the pitcher's ability to throw strikes, that's the key," Black said.
San Diego made it 9-2 in the seventh when Hairston's sharp grounder bounced off Braun's glove for an RBI single,
Adrian Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly and
Khalil Greene had a two-run single.
Weeks hit a two-run homer in the seventh, his 15th, off
Doug Brocail, a drive that a leaping Clark couldn't hold at the center-field wall. Braun hit his 34th homer two batters later, but it wasn't nearly enough.
"We're running out of time," Braun said.
Game notes Black said he planned to pitch ace
Jake Peavy on three days' rest Sunday only if the Padres needed a win to clinch a tie for a postseason spot. If San Diego was assured of no worse than a tie, Peavy would be held back for a possible tiebreaker game or the first round of the playoffs. ... John Hirschbeck took over for Mike Winters on the umpire crew. Winters was suspended for the rest of the season on Wednesday for using a profanity aimed at San Diego's
Milton Bradley last weekend. Bradley, who had surgery Thursday, tore a knee ligament when Black spun him to the ground to keep him from going after Winters.