MILWAUKEE — Rickie Weeks hopes the Milwaukee Brewers’ latest win goes a long way.
Weeks delivered a run-scoring triple in the eighth inning to make a winner of Jeff Suppan, who baffled the Atlanta Braves over eight innings in the 1-0 victory Wednesday night.
“We’ve been playing some pretty good baseball here and there, but we’ve been coming up short,” Weeks said. “When you get wins like this, some momentum here and there, it helps. A lot of times when you’re not hitting well, you’re not pitching well or you’re not playing defense well, when you come away with wins, it helps the next day.”
Braves starter Jo-Jo Reyes had given up just two hits and retired 14 consecutive batters before walking J.J. Hardy on four pitches leading off the eighth.
“I didn’t even know I had 14 straight, to be honest,” Reyes said. “I felt fine going into the eighth. No problem with fatigue or anything.”
Blaine Boyer replaced Reyes, and Jason Kendall’s sacrifice bunt gave the Brewers their first runner in scoring position. After pinch-hitter Joe Dillon struck out, Weeks hit his second triple of the season down the left-field line.
“It felt good to get that run,” said Weeks, who had two of Milwaukee’s three hits. “It felt good to get the win, period.”
Salomon Torres pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in six opportunities, completing the four-hitter and giving the Brewers their fourth win in five games.
Suppan (3-4) went a season-high eight innings and had a season-high seven strikeouts. He managed to pitch around five walks to beat Atlanta for the first time in his career.
“I’m continuing to go out and it’s just pitch-by-pitch; trying to throw off the previous pitch or follow the game plan,” Suppan said. “Tonight it was about making pitches. The defense helped me out tremendously and we were able to come in and get that run late.”
Reyes (2-3) finished with nine strikeouts in seven-plus innings, both career highs. He gave up two hits and walked three.
“He was super,” Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. “He pumped strike after strike all night long. For him, it was an excellent game.”
But the Braves have now lost 18 straight one-run games on the road.
“We get some runners on and we’re one pitch away from a homer or a gapper or something, and we’re just not getting it,” Cox said. “I don’t know why. We’re a great hitting team.”
It was Ned Yost’s 400th career victory as manager of the Brewers, who won for the first time this season when scoring fewer than three runs.
“Opportunities are few and far between in games like this,” Yost said.
The Braves had a good chance to score in the fifth when Yunel Escobar singled to left and moved up on Kelly Johnson’s sacrifice. Suppan walked the hot-hitting Chipper Jones to get to Mark Teixeira, who flied out to center to end the inning.
Jones extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the third. He has a hit in 43 of 49 games this season.
Atlanta stranded seven runners through the first five innings, and had two runners on base in four of the first five innings.
Notes: OF Matt Diaz was placed on the 15-day disabled list and returned to Atlanta on Wednesday for further evaluation. He suffered a posterior cruciate ligament strain and a laceration below his left knee that needed four stitches after trying to make a sliding catch in foul territory in left on Tuesday. RHP Rafael Soriano, who missed Atlanta’s last 45 games with right elbow tendinitis, took his place on the roster. ... Atlanta’s Omar Infante made his first start in left field. ... Milwaukee third-base coach Dale Sveum was in Arizona to attend his daughter’s high school graduation. So first-base coach Ed Sedar took his place, and hitting coach Jim Skaalen was at first. ... Atlanta is 2-14 in one-run games this season. ... The last time Milwaukee won a 1-0 game was Sept. 20, 2006, against St. Louis.