Major League Baseball

Brewers' Gomez breaks left collarbone

Published Jul. 20, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke had a hard time showing much joy over his team's 5-2, 10-inning victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Sure, it was a nice win, especially with the way the Brewers prevented the winning run from scoring when Arizona's Justin Upton was on third base with no outs in the ninth inning. But the injury to center fielder Carlos Gomez, an instant after Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew went down with a season-ending broken ankle, cast a pall over everything.

Gomez, who broke his left collarbone making a diving catch, probably will be out ''a couple of months,'' Roenicke said.

''It's a great comeback and win,'' Roenicke said. ''I'm bummed about Gomy. It's a big loss for us. If he doesn't make that play, we probably don't win that game.''

Drew was hurt sliding into home plate and was helped from the field. The next batter, Chris Young, sent a short flyball to center, where Gomez ran it down and made the diving grab to end the inning. He came up hurting, though, holding his collarbone area as he was assisted from the field.

''Hopefully we rally around his injury because he's definitely a huge part of this team,'' Gomez's teamate Nyjer Morgan said. ''It's sad. It brings a twinkle to your eye because the guy works so hard. . . . It's one of those unfortunate things because we play hard, man. That's how the Brewers play.''

After Drew was hurt, the Diamondbacks rallied with two runs off newly arrived reliever Francisco Rodriquez in the eighth to tie it but couldn't push the winning run across in the ninth after Upton reached third with no outs. The Brewers then gave young reliever Ryan Cook a rude welcome to the big leagues with a three-run 10th inning.

''It was a tough night overall,'' Arizona starter Joe Saunders said.

Ryan Braun homered in the first inning for the second night in a row, then singled to bring in the second run in the 10th. Morgan singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th, and Rickie Weeks had the third RBI hit of the inning.

What would have been another home run for Braun in the eighth was reversed when umpires viewed a replay and called it a foul ball.

Milwaukee climbed into first in the NL Central, a half-game ahead of Pittsburgh. Arizona spoiled a chance to gain ground on first-place San Francisco in the NL West, remaining 4-1/2 games behind the Giants.

Arizona tied the score in the eighth with a two-out, two-run double off Rodriguez by Willie Bloomquist, who shifted from left field to shortstop when Drew was hurt.

Cook (0-1), a top prospect with a fastball in the mid to upper 90s, faced four batters in the 10th without getting an out, giving up three hits, with one walk, a wild pitch and a balk. Takashi Saito (2-1) pitched a scoreless but eventful ninth to get the victory. John Axford threw a scoreless 10th for his 26th save in 28 tries.

Drew, hitless in his previous nine at bats and in a 4-for-34 slump, led off the fourth with a double off the fence in right field, his 750th career base hit. After one out, Young hit one down the left-field line. Braun made an outstanding, short-hop stop, then threw to third baseman Casey McGehee, whose perfect relay to catcher Jonathan Lucroy got there just ahead of Drew.

''I wasn't really blocking (the plate),'' Lucroy said. ''I gave him room to slide. I had my foot in front of him, that was it. He just slid and it was just an unfortunate accident, kind of a freak thing.''

Upton led off the ninth with a ground-rule double and took third on Saito's wild pitch. Then the Brewers brought Braun in as a fifth infielder, stationing him just to the third base side of second. Morgan shifted to left, leaving center field open. Young and Ryan Roberts both bounced out to third. Milwaukee went back to a conventional defense, intentionally walked Kelly Johnson, then pinch-hitter Sean Burroughs flew out to center to send the game into extra innings.

''The game was won in the bottom of the ninth with Saito,'' said Brewers starter Chris Narveson, who blanked the Diamondbacks through seven innings. ''That was an unbelievable job for him to be able to get out of that. We were able to build some momentum off of it and come back and win.''

NOTES: Arizona RHP Barry Enright, called up on Tuesday, was sent back to Triple-A Reno on Wednesday after his disastrous Tuesday night start, when he allowed six runs on seven hits in three innings in an 11-3 Diamondbacks loss. ... Milwaukee and Arizona rank 1-2 in homers in the NL, the Brewers with 112, the Diamondbacks 108. ... Young is the only Arizona player to appear in every game this season; 1B Prince Fielder is the lone Brewer to play in every contest. .... Temperature outside at game time was 107 degrees, inside Chase Field it was 80.

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