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GAME LOG
HOUSTON -- The Milwaukee Brewers had such an odd winning
rally even they weren't sure how they won the game.
Henry Blanco doubled in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning as
the Brewers snapped the Houston Astros' six-game winning
streak with a 6-5 victory Sunday.
Charlie Hayes singled with one out in the ninth off Wayne
Franklin, who was relieved by Jose Cabrera (2-3). Rafael Belliard
followed with a grounder between first and second. The ball hit
Hayes, who was ruled out on the play, and Belliard reached on a
single.
"I thought the baseball gods were against us then," Brewers
manager Davey Lopes said. "When (Hayes) got hit, I was about to
blow my brains out. I thought somebody doesn't want us to win this
game."
Blanco, who went 3-for-5, then doubled to right center to score
Belliard with the go-ahead run. Hitting just .226, he was just glad
Lopes didn't pinch hit for him.
"I was ready to go," Blanco said. "It made me feel good that
he didn't pinch hit in that situation."
"That was a big hit by Henry," Lopes said. "He had a good day
at the plate. That was probably his best day offensively. His hits
were big."
Curtis Leskanic (4-3) pitched two hitless innings for the victory.
"When I came in the clubhouse somebody asked me how we won and
I said, 'I don't know,"' Lopes said.
Neither did the rest of the Brewers.
"It was just a freak play and it kept us from having men on
first and third," Milwaukee's Geoff Jenkins said. "If they had
ended up winning, it would have really been lousy."
Manager Larry Dierker criticized his defense that allowed one
run on Bill Spiers' error in the fifth inning. Center
fielder Richard Hidalgo also bobbled Blanco's double momentarily or
he might have had a close play at home on Belliard.
"If we had made the plays defensively, we still could have won
the game," Dierker said. "If you have to use your relief pitchers
every day, you can't expect them to be sharp."
Jeff Bagwell hit his 38th homer and ninth in the past 10 games
for Houston. Hidalgo added his 31st homer, a solo shot in the
second inning.
Geoff Jenkins tied his career high with four hits for Milwaukee.
He had a run-scoring double in the third and a run-scoring single in the
sixth.
Trailing 4-2 in the seventh, Houston scored three runs to take
the lead. Hidalgo and Moises Alou each singled and advanced to
second and third on a sacrifice. Tony Eusebio's two-run single to
left center tied the game and he scored the go-ahead run on Chris
Truby's double.
Mark Loretta's run-scoring single off Marc Valdes in the eighth inning
tied it at 5 for Milwaukee.
Bagwell's solo homer off Paul Rigdon in the fourth gave
Houston a 2-1 lead and extended his hitting streak to a career-high-tying 18 games.
Hayes' sacrifice fly tied the game at 2 in the fifth, and an
error by second baseman Bill Spiers allowed Jenkins to score the
go-ahead run.
Loretta singled to right in the eighth inning to drive in Blanco
to tie the game again at 5-5.
Game notes
Jenkins was momentarily stunned in a collision with third baseman Truby while running the bases in the third inning. After several
minutes to collect himself, he stayed in the game ... Tony Eusebio
stretched his career-high hitting streak to 19 games, longest
active streak in the majors.
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