The Brewers will try to get back on track when they finish their season series against the Diamondbacks on Sunday at Chase Field.

Right-hander Dave Bush, who has a 2.57 ERA over his last five starts, will take the mound for Milwaukee against Arizona right-hander Claudio Vargas. Bush has been a different pitcher on the road this season (1-4, 5.80 ERA, .302 opponents' batting average) than at home (4-3, 3.21 ERA, .208 average against).

But pitching is not the only concern for Brewers manager Ned Yost, whose club has lost five in a row and is 15-28 away from Miller Park. The club's offense has scored 13 runs in its last six games.

Tops on the list of slumping sluggers is first baseman Prince Fielder, who has hit safely in each of the two games since the All-Star break but has just seven hits in his last 56 at-bats (.125). He has 14 strikeouts in 43 at-bats this month.

"I think when you start to press a little bit, a real result of that is your plate discipline," Yost said. "You get anxious to get hits, and you start straying from your approach. They want the struggles to end, and they want it to end now. You start swinging at pitches you don't normally swing at."

Despite the slump, Fielder has 16 home runs this season and is one shy of tying the franchise's rookie record.

Pitching matchup
MIL: RHP Dave Bush (5-7, 4.34 ERA)
Bush beat the Diamondbacks on April 7 at Miller Park in his Brewers debut.

ARI: RHP Claudio Vargas (7-5, 4.91 ERA)
Opponents are hitting .202 against Vargas in the first inning.

Player to watch
Center fielder Brady Clark, who is 3-for-6 against Vargas with a home run, will likely return to the lineup on Sunday after sitting Saturday out. Clark altered his batting stance over the All-Star break, hoping to drive the baseball with more authority.

  As of right now the Brewers are 3 games out of the wildcard behind CIN.

Two of the National League's steadiest pitchers will meet Saturday night in a battle of All-Stars at Chase Field.

Milwaukee's Chris Capuano and Arizona's Brandon Webb rank first and second in "quality starts" -- outings of six or more innings and three or fewer runs -- and both represented their teams at the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh. Webb pitched a scoreless fourth inning while Capuano, a late addition to the roster, did not appear in the game.

Capuano has not pitched since his six-hit shutout over the Cubs at Miller Park on July 6. He has tossed a quality start in 17 of his 19 outings this season, and the Brewers are 13-6 in his starts including 9-2 in his last 11 starts.

Webb has been just as consistent, leading the NL and ranking second in the Majors with a 2.65 ERA. Sixteen of his 19 starts have been "quality," and Webb leads the Majors with 139 1/3 innings pitched.

The Brewers will be looking to rebound from a 4-3 loss to the D-Backs on Friday night, when Arizona got a walk-off home run from catcher Johnny Estrada off Derrick Turnbow. A Los Angeles Dodgers loss on Friday vaulted Cincinnati into the NL Wild Card lead, with Milwaukee three games back.

"I glance about once a week to see where we're at," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "It doesn't matter right now. You've got to let that stuff take care of itself. You just focus on playing."

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Chris Capuano (10-4, 3.21 ERA)
Has limited leadoff men to a .177 average this season.

ARI: RHP Brandon Webb (9-3, 2.65 ERA)
Is 0-1 with a 3.30 ERA in five career starts against the Brewers.

Player to watch
Geoff Jenkins has just three hits in 15 career at-bats against Webb (.200) but two of those hits were home runs. Jenkins has just one homer since May 20.

Admiration runs high between All-Stars from different teams, but there is also plenty of respect between teammates who are here in Pittsburgh together.

Take, for example, Brewers left-hander Chris Capuano, when asked what he would like to have in baseball that he doesn't already.

"I wish I had Derrick Turnbow's fastball," Capuano said. "Just once, I'd like to know the feeling of a baseball being thrown 100 miles per hour leaving my hand."

Capuano, Turnbow and outfielder Carlos Lee completed a Brewers trifecta at the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, which the National League lost, 3-2. It's the largest Milwaukee contingent at an All-Star Game since 1983.

Turnbow pitched the seventh frame, allowing one hit, but giving up no runs and preserving the National League's 2-1 advantage. He threw 14 pitches, eight for strikes. Capuano did not pitch.

Lee entered the game in the eighth, playing left field and batting fourth. It didn't look like he was going to have a chance to bat, but after Trevor Hoffman allowed two runs in the ninth to blow a 2-1 lead, the National League had its last at-bats in the bottom of the frame.

Lee turned out to be the final batter of the game. He popped out to second baseman Michael Young, stranding Carlos Beltran at second base.

"We thought it was going to be a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth, but it didn't happen that way," Lee said of the AL's comeback. "We were one step away from winning the game."

Lee maintained that the teams would play just as hard even if the game did not carry the weight of determining home-field advantage in the World Series. But he did admit there was a little extra rush of adrenaline toward the end of the game, considering what was riding on the outcome.

"It's always intense," Lee said. "It is definitely a little more. It's a game. Stuff happens out there."

Regardless of the outcome, the All-Star experience was every bit as thrilling as Turnbow expected. The 28-year-old closer described the week as "overwhelming."

"I was told before I got here that I'll have the time of my life," Turnbow said. "It's been every bit of it. It's been pretty special."

From the sidelines on Monday, Turnbow videotaped the Home Run Derby, and on Tuesday, his family taped the game from the stands.

And then there was the issue of autographs from his All-Star teammates.

"I want all of them," Turnbow said. "There's so many great guys, great players. You just enjoy being in the clubhouse, taking it all in. You want to get all of the autographs that you can."

The eight sluggers participating in the CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby on ESPN should literally make quite a splash during Monday night's event at PNC Park.

With Major League home runs leader David Ortiz of Boston joining prodigious power hitters like Ryan Howard of Philadelphia and Lance Berkman of Houston, the 21st Derby could see a number of balls launched into the Allegheny River flowing behind PNC Park's right-field wall.

Ortiz (31 home runs), Howard (28), Berkman (24), Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox (25) and Toronto's Troy Glaus (23) give the event five of the top 16 home run hitters on the current MLB leader board. Florida's Miguel Cabrera (15), Baltimore's Miguel Tejada (17) and David Wright of the New York Mets (20) will also compete.

Tejada, who won the event at Houston in 2004, will bat first. The Orioles shortstop will be followed by Berkman, Cabrera, Glaus, Dye, Wright, Ortiz and Howard, respectively.

PNC Park is slightly shorter down the right-field line (320 feet) than it is down the left-field line (325) but right-center-field is 375 feet, where the distance from home plate to left-center-field ranges from 389 to 410 feet. It's a significant difference that could come into play.

"[PNC Park] is more beneficial to left-handed hitters than to right-handed hitters," Berkman said, "because it's really big in left field there."

Berkman, a switch-hitter, had considered hitting right-handed so as not to tinker with his left-handed swing. But now he's leaning towards hitting lefty.

"One thing you have to realize about the Home Run Derby is that it looks easy, like the guy's just lobbing it in there," Berkman said. "But you still have to get a good pitch to hit."

Howard has incredible power to all fields. As a left-handed hitter, he also has well above average power to the opposite field. Eighteen of his home runs have been to center or left field.

"My approach to the Derby is to hit home runs," said Howard, who is on pace to break Mike Schmidt's franchise single-season record of 48 home runs. "It's not the line-drive Derby. I look at it as fun, and everybody there is looking at it as fun, so I'm not going to try to make anything out of it or put on extra pressure."

Berkman is among those who wouldn't be surprised to see Howard win the Derby.

"I think he has a great chance," Berkman said. "I think it's going to be a left-handed hitter -- depending on how the ball's carrying -- but I think it's going to be tough for a right-handed hitter to win it, because the porch is a lot closer in right field than left."

That doesn't mean a right-handed hitter can't win it, and one of the righties in this field, Tejada, won it two years ago with 27 overall home runs while beating Berkman, 5-4, in the championship round.

"It's good to have him back [in the Derby]," Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said. "I think he enjoys that kind of thing, too. He kind of gets into it. I know it's a situation where you want to win out there, but it's good to see the kids have some fun."

Ortiz, in the Derby for the third consecutive year, will be taking the same approach he takes during game at-bats.

"I just swing hard in case I hit it -- that's it," said Ortiz.

Big Papi is the first player in Red Sox history to enter an All-Star break with at least 30 home runs. He went on a tear on the last road trip before the break, belting eight homers in a nine-game span.

Ortiz has enlisted a member of the Phillies to aid his quest to win the Derby. He asked Phillies bullpen coach Ramon Henderson, who served up last summer's record-setting Derby performance by Bobby Abreu, to be his pitcher. Henderson will also pitch to Howard.

"I feel good at the plate right now," said Ortiz. "Like I said before, you have to just work on it and keep working on it. [It's a] good park to hit in. It's short."

The 23-year-old Cabrera will be competing in his first Derby and has hit 33 home runs in each of the last two seasons, becoming the youngest player in baseball history to post successive 30-home run seasons.

"I guarantee one [homer]," Cabrera said jokingly.

With power to all fields, Cabrera remains a disciplined hitter, who sprays the ball to right and center fields during batting practice. While he has the power to go deep to all fields, he has immense power pulling the ball on pitches thrown inside.

A year ago, Cabrera was a vocal supporter for a fellow Venezuelan native, Abreu of the Phillies.

On the field during the Derby, Cabrera wrapped himself in the Venezuelan flag and constantly talked up Abreu, who won the contest in record-setting fashion.

"I'm just there to have fun," Cabrera said. "It's about hitting home runs for the fans. People are happy when they see the ball go more than 400 feet. I'm not going to be serious. I'm going to have fun and that's it. It's not going to mess up my swing."

Wright is bringing Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca to serve up his Derby pitches.

"He wants to do it," Wright said. "He promises he can throw good BP. So we'll see. I'm not going to change anything. I'm just going to take my normal swing. But I did tell him to try to elevate his pitches. We'll see how it works out."

Dye will also be participating in the Derby for the first time. He enters the contest on a hot streak, averaging .386 with five home runs in the 10 games leading up to the All-Star break.

For right-handed hitters like Glaus, hitting it over the wall in Pittsburgh is slightly more challenging than for lefties because of the deeper dimensions in left field.

"It's bigger," Glaus said. "It's not ridiculously big, but yeah, it's bigger.

"You've got to just relax and not try to kill the ball -- not try to overswing. Just take a nice, loose swing. Everybody wants to see the ball go 480 feet, but at the end of the day, that's not what you're trying to do. All you have to do is get it over the wall."

The Derby rules are the same as last year. An out is registered when a player swings at a pitch and does not hit a home run. Each player gets 10 outs to hit as many home runs as possible and the four players with the most home runs hit in the opening round advance to the semifinal round. Home runs do not carry over; opening round totals are cleared from the board.

The two players with the most home runs in the semifinal round advance to the Championship Round. The player who hits the most home runs in the Championship Round is declared the CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby champion.

Once again, the Golden Home Run Ball presented by CENTURY 21 will add extra meaning to this year's event. As usual, there are three rounds and each batter gets 10 outs in an attempt to hit as many home runs as possible, with anything other than a homer recorded as an out. But this time, a Golden Home Run Ball will be substituted once each batter has recorded his ninth out. The balls are two-toned, with one of the stitched leather sheaths colored gold and the other one traditional white.

Those special baseballs will be used in that situation for as many pitches it takes before that batter makes his 10th out. So if a batter has nine outs and then hits five home runs in a row, each of those would be hit using a Golden Home Run Ball.

For every home run hit by a CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby participant after his ninth out, Major League Baseball and CENTURY 21 will combine to donate $21,000 to charity. The charity recipients will be Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the official charity of Major League Baseball, and Easter Seals, the official charity of Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Since 2000, a total of 37 home runs have been hit in the CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby after a batter had nine outs.

Rawlings has produced a limited edition of 2,006 commemorative CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby gold baseballs. The baseballs are now available for sale exclusively at the MLB.com Shop. A portion of proceeds from sales of CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby gold baseballs will benefit Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Easter Seals.

For the eighth consecutive year, CENTURY 21 Real Estate, LLC -- the "Official Real Estate Organization of Major League Baseball" -- has hosted the CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby All-Star Sweepstakes in conjunction with the CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby competition.

Randomly selected from entries received through www.century21.com, www.century21espanol.com, in-office displays and mail-in entry forms, the finalists will be matched with a 2006 Major League Baseball player competing in the Home Run Derby competition at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The finalist paired with the Major League Baseball player who captures the 2006 Home Run Derby title will win the grand prize.

In addition to the opportunity to win $250,000 toward the purchase of a home, the sweepstakes finalists have been awarded a trip for two to 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Week, July 7-11, courtesy of Century 21 Real Estate, LLC. Last year, Edwin Molina of Long Pond, Pa., won the $250,000 sweepstakes grand prize when Abreu launched a Derby-record 41 home runs to win the Derby.

The starting lineups for Tuesday's All-Star Game, to be played at PNC Park in Pittsburgh:

American League

1. Ichiro Suzuki, rf
2. Derek Jeter, ss
3. David Ortiz, 1b
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3b
5. Vladimir Guerrero, lf
6. Ivan Rodriguez, c
7. Vernon Wells, cf
8. Mark Loretta, 2b
9. Kenny Rogers, p

National League

1. Alfonso Soriano, lf
2. Carlos Beltran, cf
3. Albert Pujols, 1b
4. Jason Bay, rf
5. Edgar Renteria, ss
6. David Wright, 3b
7. Chase Utley, 2b
8. Paul Lo Duca, c
9. Brad Penny, p

After defeating the Cubs behind almost All-Star Chris Capuano's six-hit shutout on Thursday, the Brewers will look to extend their winning streak to four games on Friday.

"They're pretty confident about themselves right now, but it's a long season and you just keep plugging," said Brewers manager Ned Yost. "They feel good."

Thursday's game also marked a rare occasion for the Brewers. In their sixth attempt since May 31 to climb above the .500 mark, they finally succeeded.

"Seriously, we're focused on trying to win the series right now and that other stuff will take care of itself," Yost said. "We don't fixate on .500. That's not a goal of ours, we want to play above that."

The Brewers will send out left-hander Zach Jackson to try to continue the winning streak. With the exception of his last start against the Twins, where he earned his first Major League loss, Jackson has consistently kept his team in the ballgame.

The Cubs will send out right-hander Carlos Zambrano, whom the Brewers have enjoyed much success against this season. In two starts, Zambrano is 0-1 with an 8.25 ERA against the Brewers.

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Zach Jackson (1-1, 6.11)
Jackson pitched 5 2/3 innings against the Cubs on June 27, and surrendered three runs on six hits.

CHC: RHP Carlos Zambrano (7-3, 3.33)
Zambrano is 6-6 with a 4.20 ERA in 14 games against the Brewers.

Player to watch
Carlos Lee is 11-for-30 against Zambrano with four home runs and 11 RBIs.

MILWAUKEE -- The Internet balloting ended Thursday evening, but Chris Capuano's All-Star hopes were not be dashed just yet.

Capuano, the runner-up to the Dodgers' Nomar Garciaparra in the Monster 2006 All-Star Final Vote, responded an hour after results were official with a six-hit shutout in the Brewers' 2-0 win over the Cubs on Thursday in front of 37,326 at Miller Park.

With the Mets' Pedro Martinez on the disabled list and out of the All-Star game, Capuano went home Thursday night still clinging to a chance to pack his bags for Pittsburgh and the Midsummer Classic. The decision belongs to Astros manager Phil Garner, who will lead the National League All-Stars.

"I don't even know how this whole thing works," said Capuano, who had spent most of his days between starts participating in the Brewers' campaign to drum up votes. "I'm just done thinking about it and I want to get back to work. If it happens, great, but I'm much more concerned about what's happening in our clubhouse."

It was a decidedly happy clubhouse on Thursday night. The Brewers won their fourth straight game and moved above .500 (44-43) for the first time since May 30, when they were 26-25 but in the middle of an eight-game losing streak. They have the best home record in the National League at 29-17, and have won five games in a row at Miller Park and eight of the last 10. Thursday marked their first win this season when scoring fewer than three runs.

While Capuano focuses on those positives, the campaigning was left to others

"He surely didn't hurt himself tonight," Brewers manager Ned Yost said of Capuano's All-Star viability. "We've all got our fingers crossed."

A record 18.6 million votes were cast before Final Vote balloting ended at 5 p.m. CT on Thursday, about two hours before Capuano (10-4) threw the first of 97 pitches against the Cubs. He ran his scoreless streak against Chicago to 28 innings dating to last season, including 26 innings in three starts this year.

It was the second complete game of the season and Capuano's career, and both have come against the Cubs this season. He pitched a five-hit shutout at Wrigley Field on April 30, then worked eight scoreless innings there on June 26 before he was struck in the left forearm by an Aramis Ramirez line drive.

He declined the notion that his strong outing had anything to do with Thursday's disappointing Final Vote.

"I was just happy the thing was over," Capuano said. "No one can argue with the guy who was picked. Nomar is having an unbelievable year right now, so I'm happy for him."

For the second time in 11 days, Capuano and the Brewers beat Greg Maddux, who has lost to the Brewers only five times in 18 career decisions.

"I got outpitched," said Maddux, charged with two runs in six innings. "It's tough to shut a team out twice. To do it three times, you tip your hat. He's good, man."

Good enough for a spot on the All-Star team?

Capuano retired the first nine Cubs he faced Thursday before Juan Pierre's single leading off the fourth. Capuano stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings. Derrek Lee hit a one-out double in the ninth, but Yost stuck with Capuano. Had another Cubs runner reached base, Yost might have gone to closer Derrick Turnbow.

"You never want a guy that's pitched that well have to face the winning run," Yost said. "I'm just glad that another guy didn't get on, because I would have had to make a decision. It never got to that point."

The Brewers broke a scoreless tie with two runs off Maddux (7-9) in the fifth. Gabe Gross led off with a double and advanced on Capuano's sacrifice bunt before Rickie Weeks pulled an RBI double. Weeks scored two batters later on Geoff Jenkins' single.

Jenkins ran his hitting streak to five games and finished 2-for-3 in his at-bats against Maddux, improving his lifetime average against the Cubs legend to .447 (21-for-47). The Brewers right fielder also made the defensive play of the game, throwing a bullet from the warning track to third base and catching Ramirez trying to stretch a double into a triple in the seventh.

"It's hard to describe how much of a relief it is when something like that happens," Capuano said. "It just gives you so much confidence to throw strikes."

"I just chucked it, and hoped it was on a line," Jenkins said. "The ball went off the wall and I was chasing it, so the ball was in front of me and so was the runner. My whole thought there is just to pick it up and launch it, because you're not worried about missing the cutoff man because nobody's going to move up a base. You just try to throw it on a line, and see what happens."

What's gotten into the formerly-slumping Brewers right fielder?

"Good question," Yost said. "If anyone's got the answer to that, just let me know. I don't know. Jenks gets hot, and when he gets hot, he can put a lot of offense on the board. He's really been doing a nice job for us, and that play he made today, you're not going to see a better play than that."

Weeks finished 2-for-4 and is hitting .412 (7-for-17) on the current homestand.

The Brewers need to win two of their next three games to head into the All-Star break with a winning record.

"I'm lying if I said it wasn't important for us to do that," Yost said. "We're striving for that."

Chris Capuano, one of five National League contestants in the All-Star Final Vote, will learn Thursday whether or not he is headed to the Midsummer Classic. But after three days of campaigning, the Brewers left-hander has turned his attention elsewhere.

"It's getting to the point now where I really need to start focusing on the Cubs," Capuano said Wednesday, after yet another radio spot. "On Thursday I'm not going to think about the All-Star Game or talk about it. No more interviews, at least until after the game."

Capuano, the Brewers' leader in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched, will make his final start before the All-Star break when the Brewers and Cubs meet in the opener of a four-game series. Chicago will counter with veteran Greg Maddux.

Fans can continue to vote for Capuano until 5 p.m. CT exclusively at MLB.com, and balloting will decide a 32nd and final roster spots for the National and American League teams that will meet in the 77th All-Star Game on July 11 in Pittsburgh. In two starts against the Cubs this season, both at Wrigley Field, Capuano is 2-0 and has not allowed a run in 17 innings. He tossed a five-hit shutout on April 30, then worked eight scoreless innings on June 26 but had to leave after being struck in the forearm by a line drive in the ninth.

The sore forearm may have contributed to Capuano's struggles in his last start, when he surrendered six runs and 11 hits to the Twins in four innings of work. It was just the second non-"quality" start of Capuano's season.

Capuano and the Brewers beat Maddux on June 26, scoring five runs off the legendary right-hander and sending Maddux to just his fourth loss in 22 career starts against the Brewers.

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Chris Capuano (9-4, 3.45 ERA)
Capuano struggled with his control at Minnesota, throwing 95 pitches in just four innings.

CHC: RHP Greg Maddux (7-8, 5.00 ERA)
Maddux has not won in his last four starts, and needs one win to tie Eddie Plank for 12th on the all-time list at 326 career wins.

Player to watch
Geoff Jenkins snapped his homerless streak at 142 at-bats on Wednesday, and he traditionally has feasted on Maddux. Jenkins is a career .432 hitter (19-for-44) against Maddux.

MILWAUKEE -- These Brewers just don't know when to quit.

They overcame a pair of extra-inning deficits to beat the Reds on Wednesday, 6-5, finishing a three-game sweep and walking away with their 23rd come-from-behind win at Miller Park on Rickie Weeks' two-run double in the bottom of the 13th inning.

A crowd of 19,651 paid to see a game that had everything. It had extra-inning home runs, game-saving catches, a bizarre bloop-and-bunt scoring rally by the Reds and an equally-thrilling comeback by the Brewers that finally ended the game after four hours, 19 minutes.

"Believe me, we don't want to be in that situation," said Weeks, who along with Geoff Jenkins and Jeff Cirillo finished with three key hits for Milwaukee.

Brewers right-hander Geremi Gonzalez (2-0) was the lucky winner and Jason Standridge (1-1) took the loss for the Reds, two of the 15 pitchers to see action. Both teams were forced to make player moves after the game to regroup for Thursday.

"Finally," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "We had opportunities throughout the course of the game to score some runs and we just couldn't push that big run across until it really counted."

Twice.

Jenkins provided the first big run in the bottom of the 10th inning, after Cincinnati slugger Adam Dunn hit a pitch from struggling Brewers All-Star Derrick Turnbow for a solo home run and a 4-3 Reds lead. Jenkins answered in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot off Todd Coffey, snapping the longest homerless streak of Jenkins' career at 142 at-bats.

"My whole thing was just to keep driving in runs," Jenkins said. "That stuff [hitting home runs] takes care of itself. We saw just about everything in the game tonight."

The teams remained knotted at 4 through the 11th and 12th innings. Yost considered a double-switch when he brought in right-hander Rick Helling to pitch the 12th, a move that would have taken Weeks out of the game.

"In a tie game, we really didn't want to take Rickie's bat out," Yost said.

Weeks' glovework gave the Brewers some trouble in the top of the 13th. Juan Castro, who took Dunn's spot in the lineup in a series of defensive switches back in the 10th, blooped a ground-rule double down the right-field line that appeared playable but glanced off Weeks' glove. The next batter, Rich Aurilia, dropped a sacrifice bunt to first baseman Prince Fielder, whose throw was to the inside of the bag and spun Weeks around. While Weeks showed the first base umpire that he had held onto the baseball, Castro wisely motored home with the go-ahead run.

"I kind of showed it to [the umpire] and I shouldn't have," Weeks said. "As soon as I turned, the guy was rounding third and I tried to get it to [catcher Damian Miller] kind of quick."

Weeks atoned in the bottom of the frame. Facing Standridge, Miller singled and Gabe Gross walked. Cirillo, who entered the game in a ninth-inning double-switch and had doubled in two previous at-bats only to be stranded, squared to bunt, then pulled back and "slashed" a single through a charging infield, loading the bases.

Weeks promptly delivered a game-winning, sweep-clinching, ground-rule double over Reds center fielder Ken Griffey, Jr., scoring Miller and Gross.

"I don't know about redemption, but our team plays the whole way, from the first pitch to the last pitch," Weeks said. "That's what kind of team we have. Redemption or not, I like coming up there with the situation on the line."

Entering the game, Weeks was hitting .219 (14-for-64) with runners in scoring position.

"Strange ballgame," said Cirillo, who couldn't remember successfully executing the slash play before Thursday. "Against the Reds here, it seems like we play some strange games. At least in the two years I've been here. That's a tough series for them."

The late heroics made up for another tough night for Turnbow, who suffered blown saves in each of his two previous appearances and would have suffered the loss had Jenkins not homered in the 10th. Turnbow is heading to the All-Star Game next week, but he has a 31.50 ERA (seven earned runs in two innings) in his last three appearances, and his ERA has ballooned from 3.28 to 4.78.

"Turnbow did much, much better today," Yost insisted. "He got a pitch out over the plate to a tough hitter in Dunn, but got a big out to pick up [Matt Wise] in the ninth. Our pitching did a great job."

So did the defense. Brewers third baseman Corey Koskie and shortstop Bill Hall combined for what could be the team's play of the year in the top of the seventh. Koskie, attempting an over-the-shoulder catch of a Felipe Lopez pop-up, overran the ball but still gloved it while sliding near the foul line. When his glove hit the ground the ball popped up, and Hall managed to pluck it out of the air for the inning-ending out.

For those scoring at home, it was a 5-6 pop-out. Lopez apparently would have marked a star next to the play in his scorebook, because the Reds shortstop applauded Hall's effort while the Brewers ran off the field.

In the ninth, Jenkins made a game-saving catch in right field, ranging to his left and diving for a Javier Valentin line drive.

"This is his time of year," Cirillo said of Jenkins. "This is the time where he turns it up, and he definitely did tonight. He showed his leadership ability tonight, with his bat and his glove."

Has Jenkins ever seen a team with this many comebacks in its tank?

"Not that I've been on," he said. "It's a special thing to have that mojo. I keep saying, we just have to take that same thought process on the road."