Burnitz, Brewers Sweep Giants
After Milwaukee pitchers used their arms to dominate the Giants in the first two games of the series, hurler Steve Woodard used his eyes to beat San Francisco on Wednesday and complete a sweep.
Jeromy Burnitz homered twice and Woodard won his third straight start as the Brewers won 9-6 over the Giants. Woodard's biggest contribution came at the plate -- he walked to load the bases in the second inning, setting up a five-run outburst.
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"That was the key at-bat of the day," Brewers manager Phil Garner said. "When you watch him swing, you wonder if he's ever going to hit the ball. But he's a pretty good hitter and he has a good eye."
With two outs and a man on first, Russ Ortiz (8-5) walked Jose Valentin and Woodard. The next four batters singled, with Mark Loretta and Jeff Cirillo each driving in two runs and Ron Belliard also getting an RBI.
"It was a huge at-bat. That was big for us," Burnitz said of Woodard's walk. "We scored all our runs there with two outs."
Burnitz led off the fifth with a homer into the upper deck in right field and hit his 19th homer of the season in the seventh, a shot off the foul pole in right. It was the second time this season he's had two homers in a game.
"Any time you take a good hack and hit it as hard as you can hit it, it's a dang good feeling," Burnitz said.
Geoff Jenkins had an RBI single as the Brewers, who have won a season-high five straight games, scored three runs in the fifth.
Woodard (8-5), who was pitching on three days rest, allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings. Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 15 chances.
"I knew I probably wouldn't go very long. I didn't have my full capacity there," said Woodard, who was limited by the rewers to 75 pitches. "It's not the same going on three days rest."
Barry Bonds hit his sixth homer and added two singles for the Giants, who have lost three straight after winning five in a row. Bonds had an RBI single in the first, when San Francisco scored three runs, and led off the third with a line drive that cleared the right-field fence.
J.T. Snow also had three hits for San Francisco, which got two runs in the eighth on an RBI double by Brent Mayne and a run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Doug Mirabelli.
After sweeping a four-game series at home against the Chicago Cubs, the Giants struggled against Milwaukee.
"I'm worn out. The Cubs series took a lot of energy out of us," San Francisco's Jeff Kent said. "We didn't have as much energy against Milwaukee."
Ortiz lasted just 1 2-3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits. His ERA rose from 3.39 to 3.80.
The only consolation for the Giants was that, after scoring just one run in each of the first two games of the series, they finally showed some life on offense heading into a weekend series at home against archrival Los Angeles.
"We scored some runs today, which we didn't do the last couple of days," manager Dusty Baker said. "That's a positive sign as we get ready for the Dodgers."
Notes
- San Francisco's Charlie Hayes was ejected by home plate umpire Gary Darling in the top of the third inning while sitting in the dugout. Hayes and Baker argued unsuccessfully that a fan behind the dugout, not Hayes, was heckling Darling.
- The Brewers have had 10 or more hits in five straight games and have homered in their last six games.
- Woodard is 4-0 in five starts in June.
- The Brewers are 23-17 on the road this season, the most road wins in the NL.
- The Giants announced that outfielder Armando Rios will have arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder Thursday. Rios partially tore his rotator cuff while diving to catch a line drive on Monday.
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