MILWAUKEE — CC Sabathia's first week with the Milwaukee Brewers can be summed up with one key stat: Two starts, two wins.

Sabathia homered in his first National League complete game to help Milwaukee avoid a sweep with a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds yesterday.

Sabathia went deep off Reds starter Homer Bailey in the third, his third career home run and second this season. Sabathia became the first pitcher to hit home runs in both leagues in one season since Earl Wilson did it in 1970 for Detroit and San Diego, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

After allowing run-scoring sacrifice flies to David Ross in the second and Adam Dunn in the third, Sabathia (2-0) shut down Cincinnati, striking out nine batters, all from the fourth inning on. He struck out the side in the ninth.

"I kept us in the game, got out of some jams and pounded the strike zone after that," Sabathia said. "I just try to go out and help the team win."

Manager Ned Yost left Sabathia in for the ninth despite his high pitch count.

"He was at 111 pitches, but the lineup set up for him with all left-handers, except for Ross," Yost said. "We sent him back out there just for that instance. With those left-handers, we felt good with CC on the mound."

Sabathia ended up throwing 122 pitches, 82 for strikes.

Dunn said that even though the Reds had faced Sabathia in the past, it didn't make batting against him any easier.

"He's probably one of the most consistent pitchers you'll ever face," Dunn said.

"Everytime you face him, you know what you're going to get."

Sabathia improved to 4-0 in nine starts against Cincinnati. He beat them 6-0 on June 27 at Progressive Field.

The Brewers (52-43) head into the All-Star break in third place in the NL Central, five games behind Chicago and a half-game behind St. Louis.

Giants 4, Cubs 2

CHICAGO — Tim Lincecum (11-2)tossed eight strong innings to hand fellow All-Star Ryan Dempster (10-4) his first loss at Wrigley Field, leading San Francisco over Chicago. Dempster entered with a 10-0 record in 11 home starts this season, but was upstaged by another brilliant start by Lincecum. The Giants right-hander struck out nine, allowed one runs and six hits and also drove in a run with his first career triple.

Phillies 6, Diamondbacks 3

PHILADELPHIA — Pat Burrell hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the eighth inning and Philadelphia held its NL East lead heading into the All-Star break with the win over Arizona. Ryan Madson (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to get the win.

Cardinals 11, Pirates 6

PITTSBURGH — Aaron Miles drove in five runs with a home run and a triple as St. Louis held off a Pittsburgh comeback. After Pittsburgh rallied and took a 6-5 lead on Chris Gomez's two-run double in the sixth, Miles finished St. Louis' four-run, go-ahead seventh with a two-run triple.

Braves 12, Padres 3

SAN DIEGO — All-Star catcher Brian McCann homered and drove in three runs to help Atlanta rout San Diego in the rubber game of the three-game series. McCann extended his on-base streak to eight straight. That includes three walks Saturday night and a walk and hit by pitch along with his 3-for-3 effort yesterday.

Dodgers 9, Marlins 1

LOS ANGELES — Chad Billingsley (9-8) struck out a career-high 13 without walking a batter and Los Angeles used a six-run first inning to beat Florida, avoiding a four-game sweep. Billingsley allowed a run and five hits over seven innings.

Astros 5, Nationals 0

WASHINGTON — Brandon Backe (6-9) pitched seven-plus innings and helped himself with a pair of hits to lead Houston over Washington. Backe raised his batting average to .345 while lowering his ERA to 4.76. He scored after leading off the third inning with a double, then singled and scored in the seventh. He even attempted a suicide squeeze in the fourth, but fouled the pitch off and then struck out.