Milwaukee ? Corey Patterson saw one pitch he loved up close and plenty more he admired from far away.

Patterson hit a two-run homer off Brooks Kieschnick in the 17th inning Thursday to give the Chicago Cubs a 4-2 victory over Milwaukee and a four-game sweep of the Brewers.

“I just wanted to get the game over with,” Patterson said.

Kieschnick said the fastball was a mistake: right down the middle, thigh-high. But the ones that Patterson saw from the dugout and then center field really caught his eye.

“I get a kick out of watching our pitching staff,” said Patterson, who pinch-hit for Kerry Wood in the eighth and ended up going 3-for-5.

The Brewers set an NL record for strikeouts in an extra-inning game with 24, two more than the previous mark, set by the New York Mets on May 31, 1964, and tied by Cincinnati on Aug. 8, 1972.

“I wish we wouldn’t have done that. I’d rather it happened in regulation,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.

And the Brewers shrugged off their new futility mark.

“Who cares?” Geoff Jenkins said. “It’s just a win or a loss. It doesn’t really matter about the punchouts.”

Royce Clayton said it was just the byproduct of a great game — or two.

“That was two games, basically,” he said. “I mean, I’m not really paying much attention to setting a record. Yeah, the strikeouts loom big, but Kerry Wood got a lot of them and they have a good bullpen.

“And it wasn’t like they were throwing out a bunch of hits, either.”

Wood fanned 13 in seven innings, but the Cubs struck out 14 times themselves.

Ending what began as a pitcher’s duel between Wood and Ben Sheets, Patterson connected with two outs for his eighth homer, hitting a 2-0 pitch from Kieschnick (0-1).

“I was patient in that at-bat and fortunately it worked out,” Patterson said.

It was only the second 17th-inning homer in Cubs history — the other was hit by Keith Moreland against Houston on Sept. 2, 1986. Kyle Farnsworth (2-0) pitched three innings for the win, and Todd Wellemeyer struck out the side in the 17th for a save in his major league debut.

Giants 11, Mets 3

San Francisco — Barry Bonds homered, and Marquis Grissom homered and drove in four runs as San Francisco defeated New York. Mets left-hander Al Leiter (4-2) had his worst start ever, allowing a career-high 10 runs and 13 hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.

The Mets lost their third straight, and sixth of eight overall. They are 0-11 in regular-season games at Pac Bell Park. New York split two playoff games at Pac Bell in 2000.

Braves 15, Padres 6

San Diego — Julio Franco’s two-run triple highlighted an eight-run fifth inning and Atlanta routed San Diego. There was a scary moment when Padres slugger Ryan Klesko — a former Braves player — was beaned by Atlanta rookie left-hander Horacio Ramirez leading off the fifth. Klesko, a left-hander, was knocked to the ground after getting hit near the right ear flap on his batting helmet.

Trainer Todd Hutcheson held a compress to Klesko’s head, then helped the woozy player off the field. The Braves were leading 10-3 at the time and the beaning appeared to be unintentional.

Cardinals 6, Reds 3

St. Louis — Garrett Stephenson pitched two-hit ball for seven innings and Edgar Renteria’s RBI double woke up a slumbering offense as St. Louis beat Cincinnati. Jim Edmonds hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who avoided being swept by Cincinnati for the second time in a row. Renteria’s hit snapped a seventh-inning tie.

Astros 6, Pirates 2

Pittsburgh — Richard Hidalgo drove in two runs with a home run and double and Houston beat Pittsburgh for the seventh time in 11 days. Hidalgo had a run-scoring double in a two-run fourth inning and a go-ahead homer in the sixth, a drive deep down the left-field line that deflected off an upper deck walkway.

Phillies 6, D’backs 4

Philadelphia — David Bell hit a go-ahead double in a three-run seventh inning, and Philadelphia beat Arizona. Bobby Abreu and Ricky Ledee hit solo home runs for the Phillies, who snapped a three-game losing streak and avoided being swept for the first time this season. Matt Williams and Chad Moeller homered for Arizona, which had won three straight.