Major League Baseball

Brewers go up early, hold off Dodgers

Published Jul. 12, 2009 4:36 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Fill-in starter Mike Burns looked tired and shaky, giving up long back-to-back home runs that cut a four-run lead to one when Manny Ramirez dug in at the plate.

"It is dangerous," Burns said. "You're looking at one pitch from a tie ballgame."

Instead, Ramirez popped out Burns' final pitch to end the fifth, and Trevor Hoffman and the bullpen held on after squandering one-run leads in each of the previous two nights as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 on Saturday.

Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth to cap four scoreless innings, and J.J. Hardy hit a two-out, two-run double in the eighth for breathing room.

"To the team and fan base when the bullpen falters a little bit, it can be a bit of a shock," said Seth McClung, who allowed the only two hits by the group over two innings. "We're the same guys that got our butts kicked yesterday, but we're also the same guys that have been consistently good all year."

Burns (2-2) struck out a career-high seven and drove in a run to win for the second time in his career while in the rotation for the injured Dave Bush (triceps). But he needed the help of McClung, Todd Coffey and Hoffman, who blew a save chance for just the second time this season the night before in a 12-8 extra innings loss.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball