MILWAUKEE - Chad Moeller felt awful, except at the plate.
Fighting muscle aches and chills the past few days, the Brewers catcher hit for the cycle Tuesday night in a 9-8 victory over the Reds. The Brewers rallied from an 8-6 deficit in the ninth and won on pinch-hitter Bill Hall's two-out, two-run homer off closer Danny Graves.
Moeller was in the dugout tunnel near a heater when he saw Hall's line drive leave the park on television.
"I really do feel under the weather," he said. "My whole focus today was really just getting through nine innings behind the plate somehow, some way. It probably just helped me out because I didn't think about anything except just three more outs, or six more outs.
"If we would have gone extra (innings), it would have been a real battle for me. I don't know if I would have made it through."
Hall's home run made sure he didn't have to. Hall was quick to credit his sick teammate.
"Those are the times when you have your best games," Hall said. "It means you are not trying to do as much. "It's just like Michael Jordan in the playoffs."
Moeller homered in the second inning, doubled in the fourth, tripled in the fifth and singled in the seventh, becoming the first Brewer to complete the cycle since Paul Molitor in 1991.
Obtained from Arizona in the offseason in the Richie Sexson trade, Moeller is the fifth Brewer to accomplish the feat. Molitor, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, did it May 15, 1991, at Minnesota, when Milwaukee was in the American League.
PHILLIES 7, CARDINALS 3: Pat Burrell had four hits with three RBIs and made two nice defensive plays for Philadelphia.
Mike Lieberthal hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the sixth for the Phillies, 3-1 with two games to go on a six-game trip. They lost five of their first six on the road but have averaged 5.5 runs on this trip and got to Matt Morris for two homers and two doubles.
Burrell, who batted .190 against the Cardinals last season, went 4-for-4. He had run-scoring doubles in the first and third and walked and scored in the sixth off Morris, then had a run-scoring single in the seventh off Cal Eldred and a single in the ninth.
Bobby Abreu had two hits with a homer and two walks as the Phillies' 3-4-5 batters reached 11 times in their first 12 plate appearances, going 6-for-7 with five walks. In the fifth, Burrell robbed Scott Rolen of a three-run homer with a leaping catch at the leftfield wall, then easily threw out Albert Pujols trying to take an extra base on a single by Edgar Renteria.
D'BACKS 10, CUBS 1: Brandon Webb allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings, Chad Tracy hit his first major-league homer and host Arizona pounded Chicago for the second night in a row. Tampa native Luis Gonzalez added a three-run homer and Steve Finley had a two-run shot in the Diamondbacks' third straight victory.
BRAVES 12, GIANTS 3: J.D. Drew and Johnny Estrada each homered and Marcus Giles had three doubles among his four hits and scored three times for Atlanta. The Braves snapped a four-game skid in San Francisco - and they did it in part by keeping Barry Bonds without a hit or home run again. Bonds went 0-for-2 with two walks a night after walking three times, two intentionally, in the Giants' 3-2 win. He has 32 walks on the year and says it is "boring" him.
ROCKIES 13, MARLINS 10: Ex-Ray Vinny Castilla hit a tiebreaking three-run double in the eighth and Jeromy Burnitz homered twice for host Colorado. Burnitz, Charles Johnson and Matt Holliday hit consecutive home runs to start the third, the second time the Rockies have hit three straight homers in franchise history.
PADRES 3, EXPOS 0: Ismael Valdez held Montreal to four hits in eight innings and Mark Loretta homered to lead host San Diego. Valdez (3-0) has the best record of any Padres starter after coming within three outs of his first shutout in nearly five years.
ASTROS AT PIRATES, PPD.: The game was called at 5:20 p.m. because of cold weather and threat of snow showers and rain. It will be made up as part of a 5:05 p.m. doubleheader Sept. 9.
