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Gallardo shuts down Astros

Jul 31, 2011 - 6:56 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Yovani Gallardo tossed seven innings of four- hit ball to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros in the middle tilt of a three-game set at Miller Park.

Gallardo (12-7) gave up one unearned run, struck out seven, did not issue a walk and chipped in offensively with a double and a run scored.

"I was able to get ahead. We're supposed to beat teams like this and this is the way we're supposed to play everyday," Gallardo said. "Every game is important from now on out."

Kameron Loe tossed a scoreless ninth to seal the win.

Corey Hart went 4-for-5 with a leadoff homer in the first inning and Jonathan Lucroy finished 3-for-4 with a two-run double for the NL Central leaders, who have won five consecutive games. Prince Fielder belted a homer 475 feet as part of a 3-for-4 performance.

J.D. Martinez ripped an RBI double in his first major league at-bat, a pinch- hit situation in the eighth inning for Houston. Angel Sanchez collected an RBI single for the Astros, who have lost seven of their last nine games.

J.A. Happ (4-13) gave up five runs -- two earned -- on 10 hits over five frames to absorb the loss.

It marked the first game the Astros played without right fielder Hunter Pence, who was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for four prospects Friday night.

The Brewers wasted no time taking the lead, as Hart blasted a fastball from Happ over the wall in right to lead off the first. It was his 14th homer of the season, and Milwaukee rolled from there.

In the third, Gallardo led off by ripping a double and Hart singled to give the Brewers runners on the corners with no outs. Nyjer Morgan followed with a single to right to score Gallardo for a 2-0 advantage. The Brewers had a chance to extend the lead further but Happ settled down to strikeout Ryan Braun for the first out of the inning. After Fielder reached on an error by Matt Downs, Happ fanned Filipe Lopez and got Casey McGehee to line out to limit the damage.

Milwaukee added three runs in the fifth to make it 5-0. Braun reached on a fielding error by Sanchez and Fielder singled up the middle to give the Brewers runners on first and third with no outs. After Lopez fanned, McGehee lofted a sacrifice fly to plate Braun. Yuniesky Betancourt followed with a single and Lucroy ripped a two-run double, but was thrown out at third to end the inning.

Jose Altuve led off the sixth for Houston with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Betancourt. After Michael Bourn fanned, Sanchez laced an RBI single to make it a 5-1 game.

The Brewers added another run in the seventh on Fielder's moonshot into the second deck for a 6-1 lead.

Humberto Quintero led off the Astros eighth inning with a single to center and was chased home on an RBI double by Martinez to pull the Astros within four.

"It was definitely exciting," Martinez said. "You go up there to the plate and my mind was just, 'Hit something hard. Don't embarrass yourself.' I got lucky that he left a fastball middle-away, and I was able to put a good swing on it. My eyes just lit up on it."

Game Notes

The Brewers are 5-0 on their current nine-game homestand, and are 38-14 at home this season...Houston leads the all-time series by a 117-95 count...Houston is 18-36 on the road this season...Milwaukee is 25-17 against its own division, while Houston is 17-33 against the National League Central...It was Hart's fourth career leadoff home run...It was Fielder's 24th homer of 2011.