Mariners Fall, 8-3, to Streaking Brewers

Cal Eldred gave up two hits in seven innings and the Brewers won their ninth consecutive game, defeating the slumping Mariners, 8-3, at Milwaukee on Friday.

The Brewers’ winning streak is their longest since they won 10 consecutive from April 30-May 9, 1988.

The Mariners have lost four in a row.

Paul Spoljaric and Mike Timlin, acquired Thursday by Seattle from Toronto for prized left fielder Jose Cruz Jr., each pitched a scoreless inning in their debuts for the Mariners.

Eldred (11-10), who had Tommy John-style reconstructive elbow surgery in 1995, had a no-hitter through 5 2/3 innings until Joey Cora looped a soft liner several feet over shortstop Jose Valentin’s glove in shallow center field.

Eldred, who walked two and struck out two, continued a trend by Brewers starters on this homestand. In six games, Milwaukee’s starters have yielded only four earned runs in 28 2/3 innings for a 0.97 earned-run average. They’ve given up only four walks in that span.

But it wasn’t only the pitching that carried the Brewers. Todd Dunn and Jesse Levis, the Brewers’ eighth and ninth hitters, each had two singles and a double to lead a 14-hit attack.

The Brewers got half of their hits in the second, when they scored six times off Bob Wolcott (5-5).