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Miller blasts walk-off homer as Brewers sweep Astros

Jun 27, 2007 - 11:02 PM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- It was La Crosse Day at Miller Park, and Damian Miller sent his fans home happy.

A La Crosse native, Miller blasted a walk-off, three-run homer in the 11th inning as the Milwaukee Brewers posted an exciting 6-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday afternoon.

The mayor of the city, approximately 3 hours west of Milwaukee on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border, threw out the ceremonial first pitch and busloads of La Crosse fans made the trek to see the Brewers complete a three-game series sweep of the Astros.

"The stars lined up perfectly," said Miller, who had three hits. "I got good pitches to hit and made them happy. It's one of those things I'm sure everybody would like to experience. You hit it and see it go out, you're floating around the basepaths, and then it sinks in that my hometown is up there (in the stands). You don't just do it for La Crosse Day, you do it for all the Brewers fans."

After Bill Hall smacked a one-out double high off the left field wall, Geoff Jenkins was intentionally walked to set up the double-play. But Miller did not oblige, belting a majestic shot off Astros reliever Dave Borkowski (1-3).

"I knew I hit it good enough for a double, but it carried out of here," Miller said. "I was due for another one."

Miller's other career walk-off blast came with the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 9, 2000 vs. Orel Hershiser and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"It's not bad luck, it's bad pitches," Borkowski said. "Two bad pitches cost us. The rest of the bullpen did the job. I went out there and made (bad) pitches."

Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan tossed six solid innings, allowing three runs and seven hits while striking out a season-high seven and not walking a batter.

Brewers relievers Matt Wise, Derrick Turnbow and Francisco Cordero each pitched a scoreless inning, bridging the gap to Dave Bush (6-6), who hurled the final two frames to pick up the victory.

"I felt ready to go and knew that there was a chance I might pitch depending on how the game went," said Bush, who is normally part of the Brewers' starting rotation. "The 10th and 11th (innings) are a lot different than the first and second."

Houston squandered an opportunity to take the lead in the top of the 10th off Bush, normally part of the Brewers' starting rotation.

With one out, Bush walked Mark Loretta and rookie Hunter Pence singled to right, moving Loretta to third. Chris Burke was inserted as a pinch-runner and was retired at the plate when Lance Berkman hit a tapper back to Bush.

Carlos Lee then grounded into a fielder's choice to end the threat.

"We're certainly not playing winning baseball," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "And on the flip side, we're finding ways to lose games. It's frustrating."

The score was tied, 3-3, in the sixth inning when Berkman hit his 11th homer.

The Brewers jumped on Astros starter Woody Williams for a pair of runs in the second inning. Prince Fielder started the frame with a double and scored on Hall's double.

"It was a big day for (Miller) today," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "Three hits, a walk-off homer ... all the La Crosse people were in the right field bleachers when he came up, giving him a standing ovation and spurred him on."

After Williams struck out Jenkins, Miller added another double to score Hall.

The Astros, losers of six of their last seven games, halved the deficit on Loretta's RBI single in the third and tied the score an inning later on Eric Brunlett's RBI hit.

The Brewers, who have won five consecutive series after losing eight of nine, regained the lead in the fifth. After Corey Hart led off with a double, J.J. Hardy grounded out.

Ryan Braun then reached on third baseman Morgan Ensberg's throwing error, which allowed Hart to advance to third. Fielder followed with a sacrifice fly one batter later.

Williams allowed three runs - two earned - and six hits with four strikeouts over six innings. Williams had lost three of his last four outings for Houston, which was swept for the fifth time this season.