Major League Baseball

Brewers blow out injury-riddled Twins

Published Jun. 26, 2011 4:16 a.m. ET

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The Milwaukee Brewers hit four homers, got a sharp outing from their ace on the mound and even had a slick defensive play for the final out. From beginning to end, the NL Central leaders are clicking.

''This team has a real nice balance of pitching, defense and offensive threats, so there's no way around our team right now,'' leadoff hitter Rickie Weeks said. ''We're playing pretty good baseball right now and that's all we can ask for.''

There's no way around Fielder, either.

The Brewers' slugger hit a two-run shot to give him an NL-best 67 RBI this season, and the Brewers beat the injury-riddled Minnesota Twins 11-1 Saturday night after Delmon Young left on a stretcher with an ankle injury.

Carlos Gomez, Yuniesky Betancourt and Corey Hart also went deep as the Brewers won their sixth straight over Minnesota after a 3-7 slide coming into the series.

''It's jelling,'' left fielder Nyjer Morgan said. ''You can just see that we're going to stick together and we're not going to get down on certain situations. We're going to keep battling as a solid unit.''

The tumbling Twins dropped their fourth in a row overall and lost Young after the left fielder jammed his right ankle against the wall in the fifth. He was immediately placed on the 15-day disabled list and will have an MRI in Minnesota on Monday.

''Hopefully the MRI shows there is no ligament damage or anything,'' Young said. ''It's not as bad as the sprain I had in '03 before the draft, but it's the same foot.''

Yovani Gallardo (9-4) gave up a run over seven innings. Gomez homered off Francisco Liriano (4-7) to highlight a five-run third and Fielder's 21st blast of the season, a two-run shot, capped the sixth.

Even in the ninth with the game comfortably locked away, backup third baseman Josh Wilson made a lunging catch over the tarp in foul territory with Morgan leaping up and rolling over Wilson's back to end it.

''To hustle like that, that's just the type of player (Morgan) is. That's unbelievable,'' reliever Mark DiFelice said. ''Minnesota, they were on fire when they came here. Hopefully (we've) extinguished that and move on, play the Yankees tough like we know we can. It's going to be a good series.''

Milwaukee improved to 28-11 at Miller Park, the best home record in the majors. The Brewers hold a season-high two-game lead over the Cardinals in the division.

''We're not really noticing what those guys are doing, we've just got to go out there and try to win every ballgame,'' Gallardo said. ''If we go out there and the job we have to do, everything's going to fall into place at the end of the year.''

Liriano had been sharp recently, but this performance looked more like his 1-4 start to the season. The Twins' defense didn't help him much after Minnesota took an early 1-0 lead. In the third, the Twins committed two errors after Gomez homered to make it 2-1 as Liriano labored through a 43-pitch inning.

Gomez flipped his bat emphatically on his big hit after being mired in a 3-for-32 slump and limited to playing against lefties. He maintained he wasn't trying to show up his former club. He played for Minnesota in 2008-09.

''I knew I hit it good,'' Gomez said. ''They know it's nothing personal.''

Weeks followed with a single, reaching second on Danny Valencia's errant throw from third. Hart walked and Ryan Braun singled to extend his career-best hitting streak to 16 games. Ben Revere misplayed the ball in center, allowing Weeks and Hart to score and Braun to reach second. Casey McGehee's single gave Milwaukee a 5-1 lead.

The Brewers tacked on one in the fourth, one in the fifth and three in the sixth, capped by Fielder's homer. Hart's blast capped the scoring in the eighth.

Young left on a stretcher after misplaying Betancourt's fly ball in the fifth. Young caught his right foot in the base of the wall and put no weight on the leg as he was helped onto a stretcher.

''Once I got out there and saw the spike mark on that railing at the bottom of the fence I didn't like that too well,'' Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. ''He was in a lot of pain.''

The Twins learned Friday that first baseman Justin Morneau would need neck surgery and will miss six weeks. Minnesota has lost a combined 361 games due to injuries of 13 players coming into play Saturday and is mired in fourth place in the AL Central, 11 games under .500.

''I don't know what it is this year, but it happens. None of us want to get hurt. It's boring on the DL. It's boring rehabbing,'' Young said. ''We're all looking forward to defending our central division championship and it's really hard to do when everyone is watching the games right now.''

Notes: It was the 213th homer in Fielder's career, moving him past Geoff Jenkins for second place on the franchise's all-time list behind Robin Yount's 251. ... Twins DH Jim Thome (left quadriceps) pinch hit in the sixth and struck out after coming off the DL earlier in the day. The Brewers are considering adding LHP Zach Braddock and an additional hitter for their interleague series against the Yankees in New York beginning Tuesday.

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