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Gallardo, Brewers crush Diamondbacks in series opener

Aug 21, 2007 - 6:26 AM By Bob Huhn PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHOENIX (Ticker) - Rookie Yovani Gallardo tossed six scoreless innings and homered as the Milwaukee Brewers breezed to a 9-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the series opener on Monday.

Bill Hall belted a three-run home run and Prince Fielder also went deep as Milwaukee (64-61) moved into a tie for first place in the National League Central with the Chicago Cubs (63-60), who lost earlier Monday.

Gallardo (5-3) allowed five hits with six strikeouts and a walk to end his personal two-game slide. The 21-year-old hit his first career homer during a three-run second inning.

"(Gallardo) wasn't razor sharp but he was good enough to get through six good innings," Brewer manager Ned Yost said. "He got a little bit of a breather with the three run lead, but he pitched good. It is all about execution. He has the quality pitches."

It was Gallardo's second consecutive strong outing against the Diamondbacks, who was held scoreless through six innings in a 10-1 rout on July 19.

"The last couple of starts have been a little bit rough for me so it is always good to get back in the groove," Gallardo said. "I was a lot more relaxed and didn't rush my pitches like I was the last couple of starts."

"We did have him on the ropes early on," Diamondback manager Bob Melvin said. "He didn't look as good early on but he found his command and his velocity went up a bit."

Reliever Carlos Villanueva blanked Arizona over the final three frames for his first save as Milwaukee won for the third time in their last eight road games.

However, Villanueva was optioned to Class AAA Nashville and will be replaced by righthander Seth McClung.

Following Gallardo's blast, Rickie Weeks singled, took second on Arizona starter Doug Davis' wild pitch and came around on Joe Dillon's RBI single. Fielder capped the frame with his 39th home run - a 423-foot shot - to extend the lead to 6-0.

Two innings later, the All-Star first baseman added three more RBI to his total with a three-run double to right-center field off Edgar Gonzalez to make it 9-0.

"Whenever we score early it helps us the whole game and usually we come out with a win," Fielder said. "We all went out there and we were selective and were able to hit our pitches. It also helped our pitcher getting those runs early. He was able to relax."

With runners on the corners in the first, Hall delivered a 1-1 offering into the left field bleachers for his 12th homer this season and a 3-0 lead against Davis (10-11).

"It was a nice start," Yost said. "They are a red hot team and have been playing very, very well. It is nice to get this win to start the road trip,"

Davis was hammered for six runs and six hits in two innings, his shortest stint of the season. The lefthander was 5-0 over his last seven outings.

"The control sure wasn't there. I got behind every hitter," Davis said. "I made some real bad pitches. It was one of those days I couldn't hit my spots and didn't give my team a chance to win."