Early lead holds
PITTSBURGH — Milwaukee put its first two runners on base Friday night, and that brought up the perfect hitter to face Tom Gorzelanny.
Ryan Braun continued his success against the left-hander by hitting a three-run home run, and the Brewers handed the Pittsburgh Pirates their eighth straight loss with a 3-1 win.
Dave Bush (9-9) allowed one run in 6X\c innings for Milwaukee, which increased its lead in the NL wild-card race to 4Z\x games over St. Louis, which lost 3-2 at Houston.
The Brewers, looking to make the playoffs for the first time in 26 years, have won six of seven games and improved to 9-1 this season against the last-place Pirates.
"Every game right now is of equal importance and significance," Braun said. "It's important for us to take everybody seriously."
After Rickie Weeks singled and J.J. Hardy walked in the first against Gorzelanny (6-9), Braun hit his 34th home run of the season into the first row of the right-field seats.
Braun, who went 2-for-4, is 8-for-17 with three home runs and nine RBI in his career against Gorzelanny. He also homered Aug. 23 against the pitcher in a 6-3 win at Milwaukee.
Gorzelanny settled down after Braun's home run and retired 21 of the final 24 batters he faced. He allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings.
"He started banging strikes and keeping the ball down," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "We never really had another opportunity. He pitched really, really well."
It was an encouraging outing for Gorzelanny, who was making his second start since being recalled from a lengthy stay at Triple-A Indianapolis.
"I didn't get down on myself after the first inning," said Gorzelanny, who's lost his past three major-league starts, all to Milwaukee. "I put it behind me and didn't let it get me down."
Pittsburgh manager John Russell praised his starter, but cautioned against getting too excited over the outing.
"He threw the ball better than he has all year," he said. "But at some point, our pitchers have to understand that a good outing is a win. ... You can lose a game in the first inning. We have to change the mentality that someone threw well, but lost 4-3, 10-5, or whatever."
Nate McLouth hit his 23rd home run of the season and had two hits for the Pirates, who have lost 12 of 14 games.
Freddy Sanchez also had two hits for the Pirates.
