ST. LOUIS (AP)Bill Hall homered leading off the 10th inning, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 Monday after squandering a ninth-inning lead.

Milwaukee is 4-0 on its seven-game trip and a National League best 35-19 since May 20. The win moved the Brewers percentage points ahead of St. Louis for second place in the NL Central behind Chicago.

Halls home run helped make a winner out of Solomon Torres (5-2), who gave up the tying run in the ninth. Torres also pitched the 10th.

The Brewers scored twice more in the 10th off Ryan Franklin (3-3) on a throwing error by second baseman Aaron Miles and an RBI single J.J. Hardy. Franklin allowed three runstwo earnedon four hits in 1 1-3 innings.

Hardy went 4-for-6. Rickie Weeks provided the rest of the Brewers offense with a three-run home run.

Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus drove in two runs with a first-inning double off Seth McClung that extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Trailing 3-2 entering the ninth, Yadier Molina led off with a ground-rule double over the wall in right-center. Pinch-hitter Jason LaRue moved pinch-runner Brendan Ryan over to third with an infield single, and Ryan scored on Skip Schumakers sacrifice fly to left. Torres retired Albert Pujols on a fly out to center with two men on to end the threat.

After spotting the Cardinals a 2-0 lead, Weeks gave McClung and the Brewers the lead in the fifth.

With one out, Jason Kendall doubled down the right-field line and McClung followed with a single to center. Weeks then hit St. Louis starter Joel Pineiros next pitch 431 feet into the third deck in left field for his eighth home run and a 3-2 Milwaukee lead.

Weeks home run was one of 10 hits allowed by Pineiro in six innings. He also walked one while striking out two.

Notes

Brewers reliever Eric Gagne, who prior to Monday had a 9.00 ERA in four appearances since returning from the disabled list June 30, pitched a perfect seventh with two strikeouts in his first action since July 12. Milwaukee has homered in a season-high 17 straight games; the team record is 19 straight set from June 11-30, 1996. Ray Durham, acquired from San Francisco yesterday, saw his first action as a Brewer when he pinch-hit for Gagne in the eighth. With runners at second and third and one out, Durham grounded into a 5-2 fielders choice. Russ Springer, who pitched a scoreless seventh, has allowed just two earned runs over his last 34 outings (25 2-3 innings, 0.70 ERA). Glaus is hitting .525 (21-for-40) during his 10-game hitting streak

ST. LOUIS (AP)Bill Hall, stuck in a third base platoon much of the season because of troubles hitting right-handed pitching, is making his case to become a full-time player.

Hall homered to snap a late-inning tie for the second straight game, both off right-handers, and the Milwaukee Brewers also caught up with Kyle Lohse, beating the St. Louis Cardinals and their surprise ace 4-3 for their sixth straight victory Tuesday night.

You go up there looking for a mistake, Hall said. It was pretty much the same pitch as last night. I just wanted to get out there and put the barrel on it.

Manager Ned Yost wanted to restrict his comments to the game about Hall, who has complained more recently about his lack of full-time status.

Im not going to talk about the doghouse, Ill talk about his play tonight, Yost said before taking questions. Big home run two nights in a row. Hes been coming through. Everybody wants those kind of at-bats, thats the mark of a good club.

Ryan Ludwick hit the longest home run at 3-year-old Busch Stadium for the Cardinals, who have lost two straight after winning five in a row. But Lohse tired in the last two innings of an eight-inning outing, squandering a three-run lead and missing a chance to win his 10th straight decision.

You just feel like youre in control and it was just a couple of pitches that were just maybe up a little bit, Lohse said. Thats a good team, they took advantage of it.

The Brewers bunched all but one of their seven hits off the right-hander in the seventh and eighth. They tied the game with two runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Rickie Weeks and a run-scoring single by J.J. Hardy in consecutive at-bats.

They won it by again getting to the Cardinals beleaguered bullpen, which has absorbed four of the teams last five losses. St. Louis relievers have 22 losses, tied for most in the majors with the Giants pending San Franciscos late game against Washington.

Do you think the bullpen lost this game? an irritated manager Tony La Russa said. Do you think the bullpen lost it yesterday? How many runs did we score? It aint the bullpen, our team got beat.

Hall, whose 10th inning homer off Ryan Franklin ignited a three-run rally in a 6-3 victory on Monday, hit his 14th homer with one in the top of the ninth off Kyle McClellan (2-5). Hes batting .179 but with eight homers against righties, losing playing time to left-handed hitting Russell Branyan, but has felt better since a recent adjustment to his swing.

One day it just clicked in the batting cage in Arizona, Hall said. Now my stance is fine and Im in a good position to hit.

Milwaukee Brewers' Bill Hall,
AP - Jul 22, 11:03 pm EDT

The Brewers have homered in 18 straight games, one off the franchise record set in 1996, totaling 28 in that span.

They have 21 one-run victories, tied with the Cardinals for the most in the majors, and their 57-43 record is the franchises best since the 1982 World Series team that lost to the Cardinals went 58-42.

Brian Shouse (4-1) needed only eight pitches to retire the side in order in the eighth and Salomon Torres got three outs for his 18th save in 22 chances.

Troy Glaus was 0-for-3 with a walk for St. Louis, ending a 10-game hitting streak in which he batted .525 (21-for-40) with five homers. Ludwicks 22nd homer with one out in the first was a drive estimated at 450 feet to left-center, 4 feet longer than the previous best by Scott Rolen on July 2, 2006 against the Royals.

The top five home run marks at old Busch Stadium are all longer than 500 feet, topped by Mark McGwires 545-foot mammoth clout off Floridas Livan Hernandez during his then-record 70-homer season in 1998.

Milwaukee Brewers' Bill Hall j
AP - Jul 22, 11:02 pm EDT

No Brewer reached base until Prince Fielder singled up the middle to start the fifth and Lohse had a season-best seven strikeouts.

Jeff Suppan allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings after being activated from the 15-day disabled list with joint irritation in his elbow. He had been 4-0 with a 1.48 ERA against his old team since leaving for a free agent deal with the Brewers in 2007.

Suppan allowed two runs on four hits in the first before settling down.

Tonight I was able to feel good about finishing my pitches, Suppan said. The first inning I got my pitches up and they were able to drive them, and then I started getting my pitches down.

Notes

The Brewers Corey Hart got his first day off since his first All-Star Game. Manager Ned Yost said was important for Hart, who played in 97 of the first 100 games, and Prince Fielder to get time off because they missed the break. Its fun but you just dont get any rest, Yost said. When its all said and done everybodys refreshed and youre still wiped out. The Cardinals have played a major league-high 38 one-run games. Hall has four homers against the Cardinals and is batting .346 (9-for-26) against them.

ST. LOUIS (AP)Throwing a complete game is a big deal these days. Unless youre CC Sabathia feasting on a new league.

The 6-foot-7, 290-pound left-hander went nine innings for the third straight time for his new team, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Wednesday night.

Hes got unbelievable stuff, catcher Jason Kendall said. Thats a good team over there, but when youre on it doesnt matter whos hitting.

Ryan Braun had four hits, lacking a double for the cycle, and J.J. Hardy hit his 14th homer for the Brewers, who have won seven straight. Milwaukee won the first three games of this four-game series behind stingy pitching, limiting the Cardinals to six runs.

The Brewers have homered in 19 straight games, tying the franchise record set in 1996, and have 30 home runs in that stretch.

Hardy, who is 8-for-14 in the series, hit his first homer since July 10 with one out in the fifth off Braden Looper (9-8) for the games first run. A single, a hit batsman and Rickie Weeks sacrifice fly off Kelvin Jimenez made it 2-0 in the sixth and Braun homered off Jason Isringhausen leading off the ninth.

It was more than enough for Sabathia (4-0), who followed up a four-hitter over Cincinnati and an eight-hitter over San Francisco with another gem, matching his career best for hits allowed with his third career three-hitter and 22nd complete game. Sabathia has won all four starts since the Brewers acquired the 2007 AL Cy Young winner from Cleveland. He has won seven straight decisions overall in his last nine starts, and has three shutouts this season.

Sabathia is the first Brewer to throw three complete games since Cal Eldred had four in a row in 1994.

You feel good if you can get CC one or two (runs), manager Ned Yost said. Just give him a little bit of breathing room and work from there, its a good thing.

After walking Brendan Ryan on five pitches to start the first, Sabathia retired 17 consecutive batters before Ryans line-drive single just to the right of first baseman Prince Fielder with two outs in the sixth. Ryan Ludwick followed with an infield hit down the third-base line that Bill Hall could only knock down, but Sabathia dealt with his only bit of trouble by getting Albert Pujols on a fly out to medium center.

Sabathia struck out seven, fanning Ludwick and Pujols to start the ninth as an indication he wasnt losing any steam, and walked two.

That was as well a pitched game as weve had against us all year, from the first pitch to the last, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. We had a plan, but when the other guy is making pitches like he was, it doesnt matter what your plan is.

Milwaukee Brewers starting pit
AP - Jul 23, 10:51 pm EDT

The plan, Sabathia believes, was for the Cardinals to come out swinging, just as they did the previous day against Jeff Suppan. It worked out only for Sabathia, who needed only 106 pitches.

I think they were hacking early, Sabathia said. They swung early a lot and I started mixing some offspeed pitches in and was able to keep my pitch count down.

Despite the attraction of Sabathia, the Cardinals had a run of 10 consecutive sellouts after the All-Star break end with paid attendance of 41,513. The last game to not sell out was July 2 against the New York Mets and Pedro Martinez, a three-time Cy Young winner.

Looper lasted five innings, allowing a run and seven hits. He is 0-3 in his last five starts. The Brewers stranded seven runners during his stint, leaving the bases loaded in the third and two on in the fifth.

I made one mistake to J.J. Hardy, and it cost me a run, and cost me the game basically, Looper said.

The Brewers are one win away from a perfect 7-0 trip, and are 27-26 on the road this season. They havent had a winning record on the road since 1999, and were 32-49 last season.

Notes

Cardinals OF Rick Ankiel got a day off after playing with an upset stomach on Tuesday. Cardinals SS Cesar Izturis, batting .278 right-handed and .194 left-handed, has ditched switch-hitting for now at the suggestion of batting coach Hal McRae and is batting exclusively right-handed. His stroke has been better from that side, so I think it makes sense to try it, La Russa said. Yost said closer Salomon Torres was going to get a day off, even if the game got close, after pitching the previous four days. Yost was ejected for second time this season by home plate umpire Ed Rapuano in the fifth inning for arguing a checked swing strikeout call on Fielder. Braun is 11-for-25 on the trip with two homers.

ST. LOUIS (AP)Ryan Braun and the Milwaukee Brewers are on quite a roll.

The left fielder hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to cap his second straight four-hit game and lift Milwaukee to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, the Brewers eighth straight win.

The latest victory completed a 7-0 road trip that included a four-game sweep of the Cardinals.

Braun has led the offensive resurgence, reaching base in his last nine plate appearances. He went 14-for-29 on the trip with three homers. He said Thursdays home run off closer Ryan Franklin (3-4) provided him with a huge thrill

To me, a game-winning homer is the best feeling in the world, he said. Theres nothing better.

Home runs have become commonplace with Milwaukee. The Brewers have hit at least one in each of their last 20 games, a franchise record.

J.J. Hardy had three hits and Prince Fielder added two for the Brewers as the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters went 9-for-12 on a night Milwaukee had 10 hits.

Right now, our confidence level is at an all-time high, Braun said. This is the way you want to start the second half of the season.

Eric Gagne (3-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Salomon Torres recorded his 19th save in 23 chances by striking out the side in the ninth.

Clutch hitting, great pitching, this was a great road trip, Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. Weve got a lot of clutch players, a lot of guys who really want to win and it shows.

Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets threw seven strong innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out four. He left the game with his team trailing 3-2.

St. Louis scored runs in the first and third innings and carried a 3-2 lead into the ninth. Hardy started the winning rally with a one-out single. Braun then ripped an 0-1 offering from Franklin into the bleachers in left-center.

I made some really good pitches (but) messed up on one, Franklin said.

St. Louis used a run-scoring single by Rick Ankiel to jump in front in the first. Aaron Miles doubled in the third and Adam Kennedy came around to make it 2-0 on a sacrifice fly by Albert Pujols, who was 0-for-2 and has just two hits in his last 14 at-bats.

Milwaukee Brewers', from left
AP - Jul 24, 11:12 pm EDT

Milwaukee capitalized on a wild streak by St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer to climb within 2-1 in the fourth. Wellemeyer, who went five innings, walked four in the frame.

The Brewers have outscored their opponents 44-21 during the winning streak.

Sheets says its been a combination of timely hitting and solid pitching that has put the Brewers within one game of first-place Chicago in the NL Central.

I still believe it all starts with starting pitching, Sheets said, But I may be a little biased.

Notes

The Brewers (59-43) are 16 games over .500 for the first time since the end of 1992 season when they finished 92-70. The Brewers have won their last seven road games and have a major league-best 14-5 road mark since June 11. The Brewers have hit 31 home runs in their 20-game homer streak. Milwaukee, which has won the last six games against the Cardinals, swept a series in St. Louis for first time since September 1999. St. Louis will play 17 of its next 24 games on the road. Cardinals 3B Troy Glaus was 2-for-14 in the series.