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Braves lose game to Brewers and Smoltz to injury

May 30, 2007 - 5:17 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy have been carrying the Milwaukee Brewers offense this season, and Tuesday was no different.

Fielder hit a home run and Hardy drove home the go-ahead run as the Brewers posted a 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

The Brewers had to overcome an early 3-0 deficit as the Braves touched Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets for three runs in the first inning. The task was made a bit easier when Braves' starter John Smoltz left the game after straining his right shoulder during fourth-inning warmups and re-injuring his right pinky finger while swinging the bat in the fourth inning.

"The older me takes a little more precautions so I don't create something longer to heal, but I don't anticipate missing a start," Smoltz said. "His stride was a little bit shorter than mine and I hit the back of it and slipped. It was a fluke, just hit the wrong spot on the mound."

Smoltz was trying to become the first eight-game winner in the National League. Instead he allowed three runs and eight hits before being relieved by Oscar Villarreal with game tied at 3-3.

Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets got off to a rocky start but settled down to pick up the win. Sheets (5-3) allowed three runs - all in the first - and 11 hits in six innings

"I made a couple of early mistakes and they pounced on it and I know it looked bad from afar, Sheets said. "But I don't think you can get any more of a team win than this, everyone had a hand in it."

With Sheets holding down the Braves after the first, Fielder and Hardy came through to help the Brewers end a six-game losing streak. Milwaukee had the best record in baseball on May 11 at 24-10, but had lost 13 of 17 entering Tuesday's contest.

"We were on a little bit of a losing streak there but we're still in first place, nothing really to panic about," Fielder said. "For us, whenever the heart of the lineup can get it going, it's a good thing."

Fielder crushed an offering from Smoltz to deep right for a two-run homer in the third to tie the game 3-3. Fielder has homered in both games this series and has 17 for the season.

"Prince got us going with that big two-run homer, it gave us some life there," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "The guys feed off his energy, he's got a lot of passion and they feed off of that."

Hardy picked up his 44th RBI of the season in the sixth with a single to make it 4-3. Hardy scored later in the frame when Ryan Braun stole second and Atlanta catcher Brian McCann threw the ball into the outfield.

Scott Thorman pulled Atlanta within 5-4 in the seventh with a sacrifice fly, but the Braves could not score in the ninth despite putting runners on the corners with one out.

"We left a ton of people on base, but I thought we did mostly everything right and still lost," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.

Francisco Cordero struck out Thorman and Matt Diaz to end the game and pick up his 18th consecutive save of the season.