News
Brewers hustle for win on home turf
Dominance over Bucs at Miller Park chugs to 20 games
By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com
08/29/09 11:49 PM ET
MILWAUKEE -- One Major League team hasn't beat up on another like this since Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were newlyweds and the Baltimore Orioles were the St. Louis Browns. The Brewers ran their home winning streak over the Pirates to 20 games with a 7-3 victory at sold-out Miller Park on Saturday, the longest such streak since the Indians rallied in the bottom of the 12th inning on May 23, 1954, for the 20th of their 27 consecutive home wins against the Browns-turned-Orioles. The Brewers haven't lost to the Pirates at Miller Park since May 3, 2007, a night before then-Brewers starter Claudio Vargas took the mound for a 10-0 win that sparked the current streak. Vargas, re-acquired last month in a trade with the Dodgers, notched the win in relief on Saturday night. "It's unbelievable," said Vargas (1-0). "I played here in '07, and every time [the Pirates] came here, we won, and every time we went there, we lost. I don't know why, but it's fun. "Twenty games straight? That's really impressive." The Pirates provided lots of help. Starter Kevin Hart (4-4) hit two batters in the third inning before walking in one of two Brewers runs. Second baseman Delwyn Young's error led to an unearned run in the fifth inning, and Hart's wild pitch allowed another run to score in Milwaukee's two-run sixth. The Brewers, of course, had to capitalize on those opportunities, and that's what pleased manager Ken Macha so much. They way he saw it, six of the Brewers' seven runs were the result of hustle, and hobbled second baseman Felipe Lopez led in that category. Slowed since Tuesday by a painful right foot injury, Lopez legged out what could have been an inning-ending double-play grounder in the third and was credited with an RBI, then scored when Prince Fielder walked with the bases loaded later in the frame. In the fifth, Lopez's hustle may have forced Young to rush his throw, and Lopez then went from first to third on Craig Counsell's single and scored the tying run on Ryan Braun's double-play groundout. "We're out here," Lopez explained, "so we might as well play hard." Macha was more complimentary. "I think our overall hustle by a bunch of guys ended up winning the game for us," Macha said. Jason Kendall and Lopez scored two runs apiece, Counsell had three hits including his team-best eighth triple and Fielder ran his Major League-leading RBI total to 119. Jody Gerut came off the Brewers' bench to deliver the go-ahead RBI, a double off Hart in the sixth inning that snapped a 3-3 tie. Since beginning his Brewers career 4-for-41, Gerut is 13-for-39 (.333) with nine RBIs in his last 26 games. "He and [Casey] McGehee and [Frank] Catalanotto are out for early work every time," Macha said. "He's been a model citizen, and when you call his number, he's done a good job lately. Good for him, and for us." Vargas pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the win in relief of Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo. David Weathers, Todd Coffey and Carlos Villanueva followed with a scoreless inning apiece. "We've got a good group of experienced people in the bullpen," Vargas said. The Brewers staked Gallardo a 2-0 lead, but the right-hander let it slip away in the top of the fifth after he walked the opposing pitcher to lead off the inning. Hart scored on Young's double, and Young scored on Andy LaRoche's go-ahead, two-out, two-run home run. Gallardo was charged with three runs on five hits and three walks in five innings, but he struck out seven batters. "The offense picked us up tonight," Gallardo said. "You never want to walk the pitcher, first of all. Make him put it in play. That's where I tried to get a little fine with it, instead of just throwing the ball like I did in the first four innings. I got into trouble." The Brewers bailed him out, and will try to sweep the series and extend their home winning streak against the Pirates to 21 games on Sunday afternoon. Macha would love to see it happen, but he downplayed the streak. "They swept us down there in Pittsburgh [last week] and the previous time in Pittsburgh, they took two of three," Macha said. "I think when the winning streak started, I was living in Pittsburgh and watching what was going on, and at that time [the Pirates] had four left-handed starters. Put four left-handed starters against [the Brewers, who were stocked with right-handed sluggers], and it was difficult for them. "Their club is moving in a positive direction. They played good, clean baseball down there in Pittsburgh, but then you come back here and we've won the series. We'll get a chance [Sunday] to do to them what they did to us down there."Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
