MILWAUKEE — Nine starts into his major-league career, Ben Sheets had the novelty of pitching in the major leagues all figured out.

Now, 183 starts since that May 2001 night in St. Louis, Sheets knows that shutouts are just not that easy to come by.

"I thought it was going to be easy," he said Sunday, traveling back in his mind to that 7-0 victory over the Cardinals. "I figured I'd get 15, 20, a hundred of these. Seven years later ... I finally got another."

Did he ever make this one look easy, too, shutting down the San Francisco Giants on five hits with eight strikeouts in the Milwaukee Brewers' 7-0 victory before a crowd of 44,014 at Miller Park, the second sellout in three home games this season.

But as easy as he may have made it look, Sheets now knows there's nothing easy about getting a shutout, not after letting seven years separate the first from the second.

"It's hard to throw zeroes at a big league team for nine innings," Sheets said after he did that against the Giants, using just 109 pitches.

"I don't care who you are. It's very hard. You have that one mistake that goes out the park; back-to-back doubles; an unearned run. Circumstances are very hard."

It's hard to picture Sheets going that stretch without a shutout. Even manager Ned Yost couldn't believe it.

"What about last year's opening day (against Los Angeles) and he said, 'No, (Jeff) Kent,' " Yost said of Sheets recalling Jeff Kent's home run that spoiled that chance. "Then what about that 18(-strikeout) game (against Atlanta). ... 'No, Andruw Jones.' "

But it wasn't hard to notice the possibility existed this day, not after he hit the mid-90s on the stadium radar gun during a first inning in which he needed just 11 pitches to strike out the side.

"When he came out first pitch (at) 92 mph, you know he's on, because it usually takes him an inning or two and then it's 92, 94," Yost said. "In three pitches, he's throwing 95 and his curve is biting and down. Anybody sitting in this stadium, with three strikeouts and 11 pitches, knew he was pretty much on top of his game."

As Sheets knows only too well, sometimes luck helps, too.

That came in the second with two outs and Rich Aurilia on first after a single. Giants catcher Stephen Holm screamed a liner that looked headed down the third-base line, the sort of hit that had RBI written all over it. But Brewers third baseman Bill Hall managed to tip the ball on his diving attempt and the ball caromed off third-base umpire Tim Welke and settled at his feet.

The Giants only got two more runners as far as second after that, the last on Jose Castillo's double in the fourth. After that, Sheets allowed just one hit as he retired 14 of the last 15 hitters he faced, including the last 10 in a row.

"He kept an incredible rhythm and got his offense back in the dugout right away," said center fielder Gabe Kapler, playing behind Sheets for the first time.

"Very impressive," added shortstop J.J. Hardy.

"It's a lot easier to catch him than hit him," said Jason Kendall, who was behind the plate for Sheets for the second time and owns a respectable .273 average against his teammate from his days with Pittsburgh and the Chicago Cubs.

Those three played key offensive roles as the Brewers pounded Giants starter Barry Zito (0-2) for eight hits and five runs in five innings.

Hardy got the Brewers on the board in the second with a one-out double that scored Corey Hart from first. Kapler made it 4-0 in the fifth with his second homer in as many games, a blast that preceded Ryan Braun's second in as many games by two at-bats.

Kendall capped the scoring by leading off the eighth with a double and coming in on Braun's single. Braun finished with three RBIs.

But this was Sheets' day. Unlike after that May night in St. Louis, he knows better now.

"For some people, it ain't tough," Sheets said about shutouts. "For the rest of us, it is.

"Two in probably 200 starts (actually 192). If I make 100 more starts, I have a chance to get one more."