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Fiers wins 1st start, Brewers top Dodgers

May 30, 2012 - 5:24 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Michael Fiers made his first career start and tossed seven innings of one-run ball to lift the Milwaukee Brewers over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1, in the second contest of a four-game set.

Fiers (1-0) scattered five hits and did not walk a batter while striking out three in the Brewers' second straight win to start the series.

"Once I got out of the seventh inning a lot of the emotions came up and I thought about what it took to get here," said Fiers.

John Axford stranded the tying run on third in the ninth to record his ninth save of the year. Ryan Braun supplied the offense with a two-run homer in the first inning.

Nathan Eovaldi (0-1) took the loss in his season debut despite allowing just two runs on four hits and a walk in seven innings.

"I was able to locate my offspeed stuff. That set up my fastball up-and-down the zone and that confused the hitters," Eovaldi said.

Andre Ethier knocked in the lone run for Los Angeles, which lost for the fourth time in six games.

Matt Kemp returned to the Dodgers' lineup for the first time since May 13 because of a strained left hamstring and went 1-for-4 with a double.

Kemp led off the bottom of the ninth by hitting Axford's ninth pitch into the left-center field gap for his double and Ethier was hit by a pitch to put the winning runs on the base paths with no outs.

Jerry Hairston Jr. stepped up next and failed to put down a successful sacrifice bunt before hitting a grounder to short for a double play.

Kemp advanced to third on the play, but James Loney followed with a bouncer to short to end the game.

The Brewers jumped out to an early lead in the first when Braun followed Nyjer Morgan's one-out bloop single with a blast over the right-field wall.

The two pitchers later combined for a streak of 20 straight retired batters until A.J. Ellis and Dee Gordon hit back-to-back two-out singles for Los Angeles in the fifth inning.

But Eovaldi stepped up next and worked a 3-0 count before going down looking on three straight fastballs to keep it a 2-0 game.

The Dodgers were able to get on the board in the sixth when Ivan De Jesus doubled with one out and rounded third two batters later on Ethier's two- bagger into right-center field.

Milwaukee failed to add an insurance run in the ninth when Taylor Green stranded Braun on third by popping up for the final out.

Game Notes

Eovaldi went 1-2 with a 3.63 ERA in 10 appearances -- six starts -- for the Dodgers last season...Fiers pitched in two games out of the bullpen for Milwaukee last year, allowing two hits and three walks with two strikeouts over two scoreless innings...The Brewers have won 62 straight games when taking a lead into the eighth inning...All five meetings between the teams this season have been decided by one run...Milwaukee holds a 4-1 advantage in the season series.