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Brewers score four times in 9th, rally past Twins

Jul 3, 2011 - 4:54 AM Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Pinch-hitter George Kottaras capped a four-run ninth inning for Milwaukee with an RBI single, and the Brewers rallied from a seven-run deficit to record 8-7 win over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

Nyjer Morgan went 3-for-5 with a home run, double, triple and four RBI, and scored the winning run.

Jonathan Lucroy went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI for Milwaukee. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder added doubles for the Brewers. Braun's double pushed his hitting streak to a career-high 22 games and tied him with Cecil Cooper and Corey Hart for the third-longest streak in franchise history.

Takashi Saito (1-1) worked a scoreless eighth to earn the win and John Axford tossed a perfect ninth to earn his 21st save of the season for Milwaukee, which snapped a four-game skid.

Matt Capps (2-4) unraveled in the ninth, giving up four runs on five hits to take the loss for the Twins, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Capps suffered his sixth blown save of the season.

Danny Valencia went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI while Michael Cuddyer also blasted a home run in a losing effort.

Trailing 7-4, Milwaukee roared back in the ninth. Yuniesky Betancourt and Mark Kotsay singled off Capps to give the Brewers runners on first and third with no outs. Lucroy slapped an RBI single for the first run of the inning. The big blow however, came from Morgan, who laced a two-run double off the wall in right to tie the game at seven. Kottaras followed and poked the go-ahead RBI single into center to give the Brewers an 8-7 lead.

"That's just part of what we do here. We believe in each other. If somebody is down a little bit we are going to rely on the next man to back him up," said Morgan about their comeback win.

The Twins broke the game open in the fourth, using a double, walk and four consecutive singles to plate four runs, all with two outs. Alexi Casilla led off the rally by ripping a double to left and Joe Mauer walked to put two men on. Cuddyer, Valencia, Luke Hughes and Jason Repko all singled to give Minnesota a comfortable 7-0 lead.

"We jumped on them early and we would have liked to have kept the pressure on. Especially with that lineup that they have over there, you have to keep putting the pressure on. Unfortunately we weren't able to do that and they came back on us," said Cuddyer.

Minnesota opened the scoring in its first at-bat. Casilla slapped a one-out single to left and after Mauer fanned, Cuddyer worked a walk to put runners on first and second with two outs. Valencia came through with an RBI single to left to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

Minnesota extended its lead in the third on back-to-back solo home runs by Cuddyer and Valencia, their 11th and ninth home runs of the season, respectively, to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.

The Brewers began their tremendous comeback in the fifth. Betancourt singled to center and was chased home on a base hit by Lucroy to make it a 7-1 game.

Milwaukee made it a four-run game on Morgan's two-run homer, a rocket into the flower beds in right field for his third home run of the 2011 campaign.

The Brewers pulled to within three, at 7-4 in the eighth. Morgan drove a triple off the center field wall and scampered home on a groundout by Braun.

Game Notes

Milwaukee holds a 4-1 advantage over Minnesota this season...Minnesota is 7-10 in interleague play while Milwaukee is 6-8...The Twins own a 17-18 record at home this season...Mauer is hitting .331 lifetime against the Brewers...Milwaukee improved its record to 13-23 when the opponent scores first, and now has 21 come-from-behind wins this season.