MILWAUKEE -- Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Brewers knew what they needed to snap the franchise's decade-long losing streak.

"This homestand is the most important one we've had in 12 years," said infielder Bill Hall. "This is like our World Series -- our seven-game World Series."

Hall & Co. won Game 1 on Monday night, but it was anything but easy.

Hall and Geoff Jenkins combined for seven hits, six runs scored and four RBIs as the Brewers overcame a terrible night by their bullpen to stun the Reds, 12-9, in front of 14,412 at Miller Park.

Milwaukee relievers Dana Eveland, Matt Wise and Justin Lehr combined to allow six Reds runs in the seventh and eighth innings on just two hits and six walks -- two with the bases loaded and one that forced in the go-ahead run.

Thanks to that meltdown, aided by some inconsistent calls by rookie home plate umpire Travis Reininger, according to several Brewers, the Reds took a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning and a 9-7 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

Somehow, the Brewers recovered each time.

"They've been doing a good job, but tonight was one of those times we had to pick them up," Jenkins said of the relief corps. "We needed every run we could get tonight, boy. We definitely had to keep the throttle going there."

After the Brewers sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth, Derrick Turnbow worked the ninth for his 36th save and the Brewers pulled back to .500 at 78-78. The team is gunning for its first winning season since 1992.

How weird was the game-breaking rally? After it was over, Brewers pinch-runners were 0-for-1 at the plate.

Hall led off the inning with a home run -- one of his four hits -- pinch-hitter Prince Fielder delivered a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Trent Durrington.

Durrington scored the tying run on Damian Miller's first triple in two years, and Miller then scored the game-winning run on Brady Clark's single up the middle. Carlos Lee and Jenkins added RBIs as the Brewers built a three-run lead and Durrington's spot in the batting order came up. According to official scorer Tim O'Driscoll, Durrington struck out to end the inning not as a pinch-hitter or a pitcher or a position player, but as a pinch-runner.

Thanks to the rally, rookie reliever Jose Capellan (1-1) earned his first Major League win. Todd Coffey (4-1) was charged with three runs and took the loss.

"When you throw strikes, you feel comfortable," Capellan said. "I feel really good."

Not every Brewers reliever could say the same.

Eveland took over for Brewers starter Tomo Ohka (three runs in six solid innings) and induced a Ryan Freel foul out to start the seventh before things quickly unraveled. Eveland walked the next two batters on four pitches apiece, then got ahead of Austin Kearns, 0-2, only to hit him with a pitch to load the bases. On came usually reliable reliever Wise, who had just as much trouble throwing strikes.

Wise's first four pitches were balls as he walked Javier Valentin to force in a run. After a Wily Mo Pena flyout, Wise got to 0-2 against Edwin Encarnacion, threw three straight balls to run the count full and then hung a changeup that Encarnacion hammered into the left-field corner for a three-run double and a 7-6 Reds lead.

"It wasn't a strong command night for me -- for anybody," Wise said. "It was just one of those bad nights."

Carlos Lee hit a tying single in the bottom of the seventh but Lehr's wildness cost the Brewers in the eighth. He walked Kearns with the bases loaded to force home the go-ahead run, and was charged with one more on Valentin's sacrifice fly.

"It doesn't happen very often but it does happen, and it happened to us tonight," manager Ned Yost said. "We struggled out of the 'pen tonight."

On top of the bullpen meltdown, Wise, the team's main setup man for Turnbow, suffered right shoulder spasms and exited after throwing one pitch in the eighth. Trainers told him there is no structural damage.

It helped immensely that the Brewers won. Hall ended the game by starting a spectacular double play. He ranged up the middle for Ryan Freel's bouncer and flipped to second baseman Rickie Weeks, who fired to first to end a three hour and 41 minute marathon.

"We all know what we're fighting for," Hall said. "We've got that extra energy going into every game."