MILWAUKEE — Pitch nine innings, knock in two runs, rack up another win. CC Sabathia has been the complete package for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The big lefty improved his perfect record with Milwaukee by tossing another complete game and getting a big hit Monday night in a 9-3 victory over the Houston Astros.

Sabathia is 8-0 with a 1.60 ERA and five complete games in nine starts for the Brewers since they acquired him from Cleveland in a July 7 trade. Last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner has won 11 straight decisions overall.

“He showed he’s a horse,” Houston manager Cecil Cooper said. “I guess they’re going to hitch their wagon to him and just ride him off into the sunset.”

Sabathia struck out nine, walked two and gave up 11 hits while throwing 130 pitches. The Brewers moved 21⁄2 games ahead of idle St. Louis in the wild-card race and pulled within five games of the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

At the plate, Sabathia hit a two-run single in a five-run fourth and finished 2-for-3. He scored once and helped set up two more runs with another single and a sacrifice bunt.

“I am surprised,” Milwaukee infielder Ray Durham said. “I always knew he was a good athlete, but most pitchers, let’s be honest, can’t hit. He can swing the bat a little bit. I just wish I could have hit some home runs in front of him instead of making him run like that.”

Corey Hart singled, doubled and homered for Milwaukee. Durham had three hits and three RBIs.

Randy Wolf (2-1) allowed six earned runs and five hits in four innings, his shortest outing in five starts since joining the Astros on July 22. Houston, which had won nine of 11, dropped to 14-4 in August.

The Brewers got a run in the first on Hart’s two-out RBI double and broke the game open with five more in the fourth, two on Sabathia’s two-out single.

Prince Fielder drew a leadoff walk and Hart singled. Both advanced on a deep fly to center by Bill Hall but had to stay at second and third as Mike Cameron hit a short fly to right.

Wolf intentionally walked Jason Kendall, bringing up Sabathia, who came into the game hitting .246 in his career with nine RBIs, three this season. On the first pitch, Sabathia lined a base hit between shortstop and third base.

“I was just looking for something out over the plate, trying to put a good swing on it, put it in play,” he said. “He threw me a curveball and I was able to flip it to left.”

Said Wolf: “I’ve got to tip my cap because it was a slider down and away. I looked at the video 100 times, and I’ll probably see it 100 times when I’m not sleeping tonight. He really helped himself out there. It’s frustrating when something like that happens.”

Durham then doubled home Kendall, and Sabathia narrowly avoided a tag at third with a feet-first slide.

“It felt good,” Sabathia said. “It was a little awkward, but I was just trying to get in scoring position. I told (third base coach) Dale (Sveum) when I got up, ’This is fun, running the bases, getting a hit.”’

Durham and Sabathia scored on J.J. Hardy’s single.

That was all the offense Sabathia needed. He gave up solo homers to pinch-hitter Reggie Abercrombie in the fifth and Ty Wigginton in the sixth.

Wigginton’s homer extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games. He has seven home runs since the streak began Aug. 3.

Sabathia came in leading the NL in wins, ERA, complete games, shutouts and innings pitched since joining the Brewers. He also has two home runs this season, including one in his second start for Milwaukee, and is batting .214 (6-for-28) in a Brewers uniform.

“I like to hit. But I think since I’ve been here, the more I hit, the worse I’ve been getting,” he said.

That changed Monday.

“He’s definitely confident in his hitting abilities, and for the right reason — he’s a good hitter,” Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said.

Not all the news was good for the Brewers, though: All-Star slugger Ryan Braun left in the sixth with tightness in his lower back — the same injury that kept him out of six games recently.



At Pittsburgh, Steve Pearce hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth and the Pirates ended New York’s six-game winning streak. The loss left the Mets with a 11⁄2-game lead over Philadelphia in the NL East.

Adam LaRoche homered and Jack Wilson hit a two-run double as Pittsburgh stopped a four-game skid.

Jerry Manuel was ejected for the fourth time as Mets manager for arguing after an unusual double play in the third.



At Atlanta, Barry Zito (7-15) allowed five hits in seven innings, combining with Keiichi Yabu and Sergio Romo on a seven-hitter for San Francisco’s ninth shutout. Aaron Rowand homered and drove in two runs.