MILWAUKEE -- Nothing like a win to take Manny Parra's edge off.

Parra, the perfectionist Brewers left-hander, notched his first victory in a month despite what he viewed as another subpar performance. The Brewers held on for a 5-2 win over the Astros on Wednesday in front of the 18th consecutive sellout crowd at Miller Park.

"I had nothing today," Parra said with a grin. "To me, the main focus of this game is defense and relief pitching."

And some timely hitting. Rickie Weeks returned to Milwaukee's lineup, drew three walks and scored each time. Prince Fielder lifted a pair of sacrifice flies off losing pitcher Wandy Rodriguez (7-6) and J.J. Hardy hit a two-run home run for late insurance for the Brewers, who took the series, 2-1, over a Houston club that came to town on a hot streak.

The Brewers entered their afternoon series finale six games behind the Cubs in the National League Central while leading in the NL Wild Card race by 2 1/2 games over the Cardinals. Both Chicago and St. Louis played night games.

Parra faced one batter more than the minimum over his first three innings but then labored in the next two frames, allowing four hits and two runs in the fourth inning and two walks and a hit in the fifth. He escaped the latter Astros rally thanks to left fielder Gabe Kapler, who threw out Mark Loretta at the plate to preserve Parra's 3-2 lead.

The Brewers' bullpen held it there. Carlos Villanueva struck out three of the six batters he faced in two perfect innings, Eric Gagne worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam that was not of his own making in the eighth and Salomon Torres worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 24th save.

"If I can go out there and have nothing and get away with five innings, and the bullpen does what they do and we get a win," Parra said, "it doesn't really matter."

Parra was charged with two runs on six hits in five innings for his first win since July 20 at San Francisco, when he pitched into the eighth inning to win his eighth consecutive decision. Entering Wednesday, Parra was 0-4 with a 5.70 ERA and had a .295 opponents' batting average in five starts since.

"In my mind, this was a huge game."
-- Brewers manager
Ned Yost

"Today was really no different," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "I think there's still some frustration that he's battling through, because he's pressing so hard to make pitches instead of staying on the attack at times, which is what got him going really good in the first place."

Parra, an admitted perfectionist who actually threw a perfect game for Triple-A Nashville in 2007, had a long talk with Tim Hewes following his previous start in Los Angeles.

Hewes is head of the Brewers' employee assistance program and essentially serves as team therapist.

"His job is mainly to put things into perspective," Parra said. "Over the course of the season, you can get into your own head a little bit and make things a little bigger than they are. He tries to put perspective on things and make you understand and realize things with a clear point of view, instead of having the other thoughts to cloud things.

"Bottom line is that I'm really frustrated, but at the end of the day, when we win, I'm happy. Really, that's all that matters."

Here's some perspective: Parra is 10-6 with a 4.10 ERA in his first full season in the Major Leagues. Had he not logged too many service days last season, he would be getting consideration for the National League Rookie of the Year Award. And he has one fewer win than teammate Ben Sheets, who started for the NL in the All-Star Game.

Still, Parra is not happy. He issued four more free passes on Wednesday and has walked 67 batters this season, tops on the team. He also has been prone to multiple-run innings, as he was Wednesday, when Brewer-killer Geoff Blum and Reggie Abercrombie hit RBI singles in the fourth inning.

"I'm learning how to deal with the frustration," Parra said. "I've never had to deal with pitching this way for an extended period of time. Walks have never been a problem for me, except when I came back from surgery [in 2006 for a shoulder injury]. That's probably my biggest frustration, the command.

"The thing about baseball is it's a team sport, and you're expected to rely on your teammates in such a big way. Like in the game today, if not for Kapler, I don't win. We still would have won the game, though. Sometimes you want to do everything for yourself, and I battle that sometimes."

Hardy's homer, a two-run shot in the seventh inning off reliever Doug Brocail, gave the Brewers a three-run cushion, but the top of the eighth inning was nonetheless harrowing for Gagne. Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada led off with a bunt single before Lance Berkman was hit by a pitch, at least according to plate umpire Dale Scott.

Yost objected, and was told by the umps that Berkman was struck in the jersey. Replays showed that Gagne's pitch may have come close to Berkman's thigh, but was nowhere near his jersey. Blum then loaded the bases when Fielder couldn't handle a chopper to first base.

Gagne escaped, fielding a comebacker off the bat of Hunter Pence and throwing home to initiate a 1-2-3 double play. Abercrombie grounded out to Fielder to end the inning.

Milwaukee improved to 5-1 in series play since being swept by the Cubs at Miller Park in July.

"In my mind, this was a huge game," Yost said. "This Houston club came in here very, very hot, playing very good baseball."