MILWAUKEE — Kevin Brown's splendid sinker made life miserable for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Brown took a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning, and Fred McGriff and Paul Lo Duca homered as the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to 10 games Sunday with a 5-1 victory.
"It was not a nice day to be a Milwaukee Brewer hitter," Los Angeles manager Jim Tracy said. "It's no fun to be a hitter against that guy."
Brown (6-1) struck out eight and walked one in winning his fifth consecutive decision over seven starts since April 18.
"He was basically unhittable for eight innings," Lo Duca said. "He got a little tired in the ninth, but he had a nasty, nasty sinker today.' The pitch was so dominant that the Brewers hit only three balls out of the infield against Brown.
McGriff hit his 486th homer in the sixth, a two-run shot off Ben Sheets (4-4). Lo Duca added a three-run drive in the eighth.
McGriff hit a grand slam Saturday night, when Hideo Nomo pitched a two-hit shutout to beat the Brewers 6-0.
The Dodgers' winning streak is tied for their fifth-longest since they moved to Los Angeles in 1958. The franchise record is 15 consecutive wins from Aug. 29 to Sept. 6, 1924, when the team was in Brooklyn.
BRAVES 3, METS 1: In Atlanta, Marcus Giles hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth and Greg Maddux pitched seven scoreless innings Sunday as the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 3-1. After Jeromy Burnitz hit a game-tying solo shot in the eighth off Roberto Hernandez (4-1), the Braves regained the lead. Rafael Furcal singled with two outs against David Weathers (1-4) before Giles hit his seventh home run of the season.
DIAMONDBACKS 9, PADRES 5: In Phoenix, Mark Grace hit a two-run homer and Elmer Dessens became the first Arizona starter with four wins as the Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 9-5 Sunday. David Dellucci also drove in two runs for the Diamondbacks, who sent San Diego to its 10th loss in 11 games. Grace, a late addition to the lineup, homered off Jaret Wright to make it 9-5 in the sixth inning.
CUBS 7, ASTROS 3: In Houston, Moises Alou hit three RBI singles and Carlos Zambrano pitched 6 1/3 strong innings as the Chicago Cubs finished off a long road trip with a 7-3 victory over the Houston Astros. The NL Central-leading Cubs took two of three in Houston to go 8-5 on the trip despite missing slugger Sammy Sosa, who is on the disabled list with an injured right toe. One game was rained out on the trip — Chicago's longest scheduled stretch away from home since a 15-game trip in 1983.
MARLINS 6, REDS 2: In Cincinnati, Dontrelle Willis pitched eight shutout innings in his fourth major league start as the Florida Marlins completed a rare three-game sweep Sunday with a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Derrek Lee had three hits, including a solo homer, and Mike Lowell hit his 16th homer off Danny Graves (3-3) to cap a triumphant homecoming for manager Jack McKeon.
PIRATES 8, CARDINALS 7: In Pittsburgh, Aramis Ramirez drove in three runs and St. Louis' usually flawless defense committed a costly error that led to a four-run Pirates' sixth inning and an 8-7 Pittsburgh comeback victory Sunday. Kenny Lofton doubled in an insurance run following Abraham Nunez's go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh, running his hitting streak to 23 games — the Pirates' longest since Al Oliver's 23-game run in 1974.
EXPOS 5, PHILLIES 3: In Montreal, Brian Schneider hit a three-run homer and Javier Vazquez pitched seven strong innings to lead Montreal to a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday in the Expos' last game at Olympic Stadium until June 20. A photo day promotion crowd of 17,023 roared its approval when Schneider hit his fifth homer with two out in the seventh off reliever Dan Plesac to break a 2-2 tie.
ROCKIES 5, GIANTS 1; In Denver, Darren Oliver pitched six scoreless innings and hit an RBI double to win for the first time in nearly a month as the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 5-1 on Sunday. Greg Norton hit a two-run double in the seventh inning for Colorado, which won for just the third time in nine games. San Francisco, playing without Barry Bonds for the second straight game, has lost 10 of 15.