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Brewers beat Dodgers with 9-run 2nd inning

May 5, 2010 - 6:40 AM LOS ANGELES(AP) -- Milwaukee manager Ken Macha believes the reason slugger Prince Fielder has always started off slowly in the power department is because he's put an inordinate amount of pressure on himself to carry the team.

Fielder whose two-run homer helped fuel a nine-run second inning in the Brewers' 10-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, has just three in 26 games this season.

The two-time All-Star has reached that total in fewer than 23 contests only once in six big league seasons. That was 2007, when he led the NL with 50 homers. He began this season with a homerless drought of 14 games and 53 at-bats, matching his career worst in both categories.

"I think he just tries too hard. I mean, that's kind of what the guys have been telling me," Macha said. "He's fighting his way through this thing. Last Friday at San Diego, he was sitting at his locker for quite a while, and I asked him if he was OK. He said: "No, I'm not OK. I'm tired of losing.' So he takes this stuff personally. He wants to be the guy that helps the team win every night."

Fielder didn't completely agree with Macha's assessment.

"I don't take it upon myself to do that, but it is my job and I know that. So of course I'm going to want to do that," the Brewers' cleanup hitter said. "But as far as putting extra pressure on myself, I mean, there's naturally going to be pressure just because you've got to perform. You always want to capitalize whenever you can."

Gregg Zaun also hit a two-run homer and Ryan Braun added a three-run double during the Brewers' second nine-run inning of the season. The other was during 17-3 victory over Pittsburgh on April 26, when they erupted in the eighth inning.

The last time the Dodgers gave up nine runs in an inning was June 11, 2002, in the fifth inning of an 11-2 interleague loss at Tampa Bay. No visiting team had scored nine or more runs in one inning at Dodger Stadium since April 23, 1999, when Fernando Tatis hit two grand slams against Chan Ho Park during an 11-run third by St. Louis.

"The good thing is that you've got a bunch of innings to come back, so you try to keep them from scoring more and see if you can outscore them," James Loney said. "We think we can win right up until the last out because there's no clock. That's the type of team we have. I mean, if they can put up runs like that, why can't we? We've done it before, so that's the mentality we take."

Chris Narveson (2-0) allowed three runs and four hits over six innings with three strikeouts and two walks in his second start since replacing an ineffective Jeff Suppan in the rotation.

The Dodgers scored their runs against Narveson on two sacrifice flies and a groundout, after falling behind 10-0. Loney added a three-run homer in the eighth against Manny Parra.

Clayton Kershaw (1-2) threw 57 pitches in just 1 1-3 innings and retired only four of the 13 batters he faced - including the pitcher. The 22-year-old left-hander surrendered seven runs, five hits and two walks against an offense that had managed only two runs during a four-game series at San Diego and was shut out three times.

Alcides Escobar opened the scoring with an RBI single, and another run scored when Carlos Gomez was hit on the left arm by a 1-2 pitch with the bases loaded. Braun followed with a three-run double and Fielder chased Kershaw with his homer to right-center.

"It was kind of a snowball effect," Kershaw said after the shortest of his 57 big league starts. "I didn't give our team any kind of chance. It's just not a good feeling to let your teammates down, let everybody down. It stings, it hurts."

Zaun capped the rally with his first of the season, a towering shot down the right field line against Ramon Ortiz after a single by Corey Hart.

The Brewers made their first trip to Los Angeles since August, when Fielder tried to barge into the Dodgers' clubhouse after a 17-4 loss in the second game of a three-game series and was stopped by security guards during a profanity-laced tirade that was captured by a TV news crew. Reliever Guillermo Mota, who sparked Fielder's ire by plunking him with two out in the ninth, is now pitching for San Francisco.

Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez, sidelined since April 23 with a right calf strain, began a minor league rehab assignment with Class-A Inland Empire and had an RBI single in three at-bats as a DH against Lake Elsinore. In the same game, Jeff Weaver allowed two unearned runs over three innings and struck out three in preparation for his scheduled return from the DL on Friday.

NOTES: A moment of silence was observed for Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, who died Tuesday at age 92. ... The victory was the Brewers' 900th in the regular season since the franchise switched to the National League in 1998 (900-1,068). ... Milwaukee OF Jim Edmonds, who missed his fifth straight game since tweaking his lower back on a steal of second base, said he expects to return to the lineup Wednesday night.