W:  Yovani Gallardo (5-2)

L:  Micah Owings (3-6)

S:  Trevor Hoffman (13)

Home Runs

CIN:  Phillips, B (9)

MIL:  Cameron, M (11)

Key Players

RHP Yovani Gallardo:  5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 9 K

CF Mike Cameron:  2-4, HR (11), 3 RBI, R, K -- .284 AVG

3B Mat Gamel:  2-3, RBI, K -- .214 AVG

Saturday marked a coming-out party for the Brewers bats, and the momentum carried over into the series finale.

The Brewers jumped on Micah Owings for two runs in the first inning.  Both runs came on two-out RBI singles by Mike Cameron and Mat Gamel.  Gamel's RBI single particularly impressed me, as the young third baseman showed a willingness to go to the opposite field to score the run.  Owings jammed him a bit with a cutter, but Gamel simply served it to left and it dropped for a hit.

The runs kept coming in the second, as Jason Kendall scored on a sacrifice fly by J.J. Hardy.  In the third, however, the Brewers broke it open on a two-run shot by Cameron, who has homered in consecutive games to raise his home run total to 11 for the season.  He jumped all over a hanging changeup from Owings and banged it into the left-field bleachers to put the Brewers up 5-0.

Cameron is enjoying a wonderful beginning to the season.  His two-hit performance raised his batting average to .284, and he also owns a sparkling .379 OBP.  He is consistently getting on base, and despite his (questionable) error on a ball in the gap by Jerry Hairston Jr. on Sunday, Cam is playing spectacular defense in center.  Ryan Braun may make flashy plays like his diving stab in the fifth, but Cameron rarely is forced to sacrifice his body because of the superb jumps he gets in center.  Watch Cameron in center.  That is a master employing his craft day-in and day-out.

The Cincinnati Reds tried to make it interesting in the fifth, as Brandon Phillips launched a down-and-in fastball into the Brewers dugout to cut the lead to 5-2.  Cincy was unable to score for the remainder of the game, however, as the Brewers secured their first sweep of the Cincinnati Reds in Miller Park since 2006.

Yovani Gallardo was a large part of that effort through the first five-plus innings.  He was quite inefficient with his pitches, causing him to depart after just five and a third, but nine strikeouts will do that to a pitch count.  Gallardo whiffed the first six outs of the contest, including back-to-back Ks to Ryan Hanigan and Micah Owings in the second to strand the bases loaded.  The right-hander made big pitches when it counted and managed to work around seven hits and two walks to only surrender two runs (one earned).

Gallardo left the game after allowing a 3-1 double to Ryan Hanigan and subsequently a single to Micah Owings.  With runners on the corners with one out, however, Mitch Stetter got Chris Dickerson to groundout to the pitcher's mound.  That caused Hanigan to freeze at third.  Even though the Brewers were unable to turn the double play, Stetter got Jerry Hairston Jr. swinging to escape the inning unscathed.

Mark DiFelice and Trevor Hoffman combined with Stetter to toss 3.2 scoreless innings.  The Brewers bullpen did not surrender a single run throughout the three-game series against the Reds.  

The bullpen has been a large part of the Brewers' success in 2009.  Coming into Sunday's contest, the 'pen owned a 3.30 ERA, which is good for the third-best mark in the majors.  DiFelice now has a 1.16 ERA and Hoffman tossed his fifteenth-consecutive scoreless frame with Milwaukee.  Along with Carlos Villanueva, who has a 1.46 ERA in the month of May, and Todd Coffey, the Brewers boast one of the best bullpens in the game.

It sure makes the later innings more fun to watch.  Hoffman's changeups to both Phillips and Bruce in the ninth were devastatingly wonderful.

NL Central Standings

Milwaukee Brewers:  (30-20), -- GB

St. Louis Cardinals:  (29-21), 1.0 GB

Cincinnati Reds:  (26-23), 3.5 GB

Chicago Cubs:  (25-23), 4.0 GB

Pittsburgh Pirates:  (22-28), 8.0 GB

Houston Astros:  (20-28), 9.0 GB

Game MVP:  CF Mike Cameron -- +.185 WPA

Game LVP:  1B Prince Fielder -- (-.052 WPA)

On Tap

The Milwaukee Brewers travel to Florida to face the Marlins.  Jeff Suppan is scheduled to take the hill for the Crew, and he will face the young and highly-touted young hurler, Andrew Miller.  Miller has a 1-2 record with a 4.55 ERA, but has pitched well as of late.  He has posted quality starts in his previous two outings and looks to carry over that success against the suddenly rejuvinated Brewers offense.

The first pitch will be at 6:10pm CT.