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Stanton homers as Marlins top struggling Brewers

Sep 9, 2014 - 7:07 AM Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Giancarlo Stanton hit his NL-leading 37th home run and the Miami Marlins downed the free-falling Milwaukee Brewers, 6-4, in the opener of a four-game series.

Garrett Jones went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI while Marcell Ozuna crushed a solo shot for the Marlins, who are coming off a weekend series win over the Atlanta Braves and are still in the hunt for a wildcard spot.

Brad Penny (2-1) gave up two runs in the first inning but wound up keeping Milwaukee off the board over the next five frames to pick up the victory.

"We just kept adding on and Brad did a great job shutting them down," said Marlins manager Mike Redmond.

The Brewers' playoff chances have taken a hit having lost 15 of their last 18 games after being in first place since the beginning of April. They sit third in the NL Central standings, six games behind the front-running Cardinals.

Yovani Gallardo (8-9) came in 5-0 with a 1.12 ERA in his career against the Marlins but was knocked around for six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits over just 3 2/3 innings.

The Brewers countered Casey McGehee's RBI single in the opening frame with two runs in their half of the first.

Carlos Gomez worked a leadoff walk and raced around on Scooter Gennett's double to the right-field gap, and Gennett scored on a Jonathan Lucroy groundout.

The big bats came out for the Marlins the next inning, however, with Ozuna leading off with a colossal blast off the scoreboard in straightaway center.

Jones made it back-to-back homers by sending one into the Brewers' bullpen beyond the wall in left-center, and Christian Yelich added an RBI single later in the inning for a 4-2 Marlins lead.

"We get the lead after giving up the run in the first inning. I just got to stay away from giving up runs. I've got to put up a zero and I wasn't able to do that," Gallardo said.

Stanton hit an opposite-field shot leading off the third, and Jones doubled into the right-field corner to knock in Ozuna three batters later. Stanton's homer tied him with Dan Uggla for the most home runs in Marlins history (154).

Run-scoring hits from Gomez and Lucroy in the eighth brought the Brewers within 6-4, but Steve Cishek closed the door with a perfect ninth. Cishek's 33rd save of the year was highlight by his back-the-back stab on a comebacker by Khris Davis.

Game Notes

Gallardo's only strikeout moved him past Ben Sheets as the all-time franchise leader with 1,207 punchouts ... Stanton tied his career high in homers set in 2012 ... Gomez recorded his 30th double.