Bolstered by more late heroics from Ryan Braun and Bill Hall, the Brewers rallied for a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday at Miller Park, moving into a tie for first place in the National League Central. The Chicago Cubs, who lost earlier in the day to Florida, and the Brewers have identical 60-44 records.

Braun, who hit a game-winning homer in the ninth at St. Louis on Thursday, smacked a game-tying two-run blast with two outs in the seventh this time around. Hall, who hit go-ahead homers in the final innings on Monday and Tuesday against the Cardinals, delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth against Doug Brocail (4-5) to snap the 4-4 tie.

"We have a lot of confidence going into the seventh and eighth inning, down a couple runs," Hall said. "We're just a couple of bloops and a blast away from being in a tie ballgame, and that's what happened."

Trailing the Cubs by five games heading into the All-Star break, the Brewers have since won eight of nine -- nine of 10, overall -- to draw even. The two teams open a much-anticipated four-game series in Milwaukee on Monday.

"Our focus was to be within striking distance of the Cubs when they come to town, [to] somehow find a way to get within a couple games, and we've accomplished that right now," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "We're going to be that when the next series opens up, but we still have a tough game tomorrow, and that's where our focus is at."

Braun, who logged a pair of sacrifice flies to accompany his two-run blast, finished with four RBIs.

Recent acquisition Ray Durham scored three of those runs, doubling in his first two at-bats for his first hits since joining the Brewers last weekend.

"[San Francisco manager Bruce] Bochy said [Durham] hits good pitching, and there's something to be said about that," Yost said. "Guys that hit good pitching, they're special. He does have some lightning in his bat."

Durham was on first with two outs when Braun took Geoff Geary out to center field.

"I was looking for a fastball, and he left an offspeed pitch over the middle of the plate," Braun said. "I took advantage and hit it hard. I didn't know whether I hit it good enough to get over the fence or not. Fortunately, I just got enough."

Eric Gagne (4-2) pitched a perfect eighth, setting the stage for the offense. Corey Hart led off with a ringing double, and Hall lofted a ball to right-center for the go-ahead tally.

"Everybody wants to be up there late in the ballgame with an opportunity to do something great for the team," Hall said. "Especially when you've had success in the past, it makes it a lot easier, because you have a lot of confidence going up there. I've had a lot of success in late innings. I was just trying to get him to third. If he had hit a single, I would have been bunting. He hit the double, and Ned told me to swing away."

Jason Kendall later drove in Hall for an insurance run, and Salomon Torres locked down his 20th save.

Former Brewer Carlos Lee hit a two-run home run against Dave Bush, making his first start in the team's unique fifth-starter's platoon with Seth McClung, in which Bush makes all the starts at home. Hunter Pence followed with a go-ahead homer two batters later in the fourth, giving the Astros a 3-2 lead.

Bush did not walk a batter in his first start since July 10, but he allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings of work. Counterpart Brandon Backe held the Brewers to two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 frames, but neither earned a decision.

"I was well-rested, I guess," Bush joked. "I'm not sure anybody's ever done that to be honest, unless they're on the DL. Tonight, I had to figure out a way to get it to work. This is what we're going to do for a while, so I have to figure out a way to stay a little sharper. I like to be a little finer with my control."

Bush was taken off the hook for the loss on Braun's blast.

"He's done a lot in a relatively short period of time," Bush said. "He's a guy that we would like up at any critical time. He's shown the ability to do some really special things. We're trying not too much pressure on him, but I think we're all anticipating [that] when he's up there, there's always the potential for it."