Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Rickie Weeks' RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in the deciding run in the Milwaukee Brewers' 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees, spoiling CC Sabathia's return to Miller Park.
Weeks' two-out hit off Alfredo Aceves (0-1) brought home Jonathan Lucroy, one of three Brewers who homered off Sabathia earlier in the contest, and helped Milwaukee halt a three-game losing streak.
Lucroy finished 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double, with Carlos Gomez and Aramis Ramirez adding solo shots and Weeks also collecting a pair of hits.
Zach Duke (3-0) picked up the win despite surrendering Alfonso Soriano's run- scoring pinch-hit single in the top of the seventh that tied the game at 4-4.
Sabathia, who went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in a half-season with the Brewers in 2008, lasted 5 1/3 innings in his first start at Miller Park since leaving Milwaukee to sign with the Yankees. He allowed four runs, though just one was earned due to an error by New York shortstop Brendan Ryan that led to a three- run third.
Mark Teixeira went 2-for-4 with a solo homer for New York, which took Friday's opener of this three-game interleague set and came in having won three straight overall.
Milwaukee starter Kyle Lohse departed after six innings with his team carrying a 4-3 lead that the bullpen couldn't hold, as Tyler Thornburg issued a leadoff walk to pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson and gave up a single to Ichiro Suzuki. Duke entered and retired Jacoby Ellsbury, but Soriano sent a grounder through the right side that knotted the score.
Lucroy doubled off Aceves in the bottom of the inning, however, two batters prior to Weeks' sharp grounder that got past a diving Ryan that put the Brewers back in front.
The Yankees didn't put a runner on the rest of the way, with Will Smith striking out two in a perfect eighth and Francisco Rodriguez notching his 15th save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Lohse was charged with three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits in his six- inning stint.
Sabathia received a rude greeting from Gomez, who hammered the big lefty's third pitch of the night for a towering homer to open the bottom of the first.
The Yankees forged ahead with a two-run top of the third, highlighted by Brett Gardner's RBI triple that was followed by a Carlos Beltran single. However, Sabathia was again hurt by the long ball -- as well as a defensive miscue by Ryan -- during Milwaukee's half of the frame.
Ryan mishandled Jean Segura's two-out grounder that extended the inning for Lucroy, who drilled an 0-2 fastball off the batter's eye in center field to sent Milwaukee in front. Ramirez then clobbered Sabathia's next offering into the second deck in left for a 4-2 advantage.
Sabathia settled down afterward, retiring eight straight batters before running into a jam in the sixth, and New York got a run back in its portion of the inning on Teixeira's sixth homer of the season.
Game Notes
Sabathia entered the matchup 7-1 with a 2.13 ERA in 12 career starts at Miller Park ... Ramirez, now 12-for-21 lifetime against Sabathia, left the game after injuring his leg in the top of the fourth inning ... The Brewers halted a five-game skid in the series, having been swept in a three-game set at Yankee Stadium back in 2011 ... Lohse has recorded a no-decision in three straight outings.
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