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Hall homers twice, Brewers rout Giants

Apr 4, 2008 - 10:59 PM By JR Radcliffe PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- If Bill Hall had some variety of spring fever, he found the cure Friday.

The third baseman smacked two home runs and drove in a career-high six RBI - twice as many as his entire spring training total - as the Milwaukee Brewers opened the home portion of their schedule with an easy 13-4 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Carlos Villanueva (1-0) pitched effectively into the sixth inning and Prince Fielder drove in three runs in the offensive outburst.

Milwaukee scored five runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, turning a 3-0 game into a laugher.

After Fielder's base hit plated the first run, Hall blasted a two-run shot off Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez (0-1) with two outs in the opening frame.

Hall added another home run in the fifth, capping a five-run frame. Gabe Kapler and Fielder each had RBI singles before Hall crushed a three-run blast off reliever Keiichi Yabu, giving the Brewers an 8-0 advantage.

"I wasn't worried about not hitting home runs in spring training and exhibition games," said Hall, who hit .262 in 61 spring at-bats with no homers and three RBI. "I've never seen those stats on the back of anyone's baseball card.

"I hit a lot of balls hard in spring training and a lot of them off the wall, so I wasn't worried. As long as I was hitting them in batting practice, I knew my swing was pretty good."

At times Friday, batting practice was exactly what the game looked like. Milwaukee's 13 runs were an all-time high in a home opener for the club, eclipsing the 12 scored in 1995.

The Brewers' offense kept churning in the sixth with five runs on six hits against reliever Brad Hennessey. Jason Kendall, Kapler, Fielder, Hall and Corey Hart all drove in runs as the Brewers opened a 13-2 lead.

"All of last year, we used to get out to early leads, and the offense would kind of calm down and the other team would score one run, two runs, and then they're back in the ballgame," Hall said. "That was kind of our focal point this year, not giving away at-bats.

"If it's second and third, just hit a ground ball. One extra run, you never know if that's going to win the ballgame or not, even if it's the seventh inning and you're up, 6-0."

San Francisco (1-3) finally reached the scoring column in its half of the sixth, when Aaron Rowand and Jose Castillo had back-to-back one-out doubles followed by Rich Aurilia's run-scoring single.

Bengie Molina also tagged reliever Salomon Torres for a two-run blast in the seventh, the first home run by a Giant this season. Torres pitched the final three frames for Milwaukee, registering his first save of the season.

Villanueva surrendered hits to his last four batters, but still picked up the win. He allowed two runs and eight hits with a career-high six strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.

"I prepare myself as I usually do," said the 24-year-old Villanueva, who has been repeatedly praised by manager Ned Yost for his unflappable demeanor. "My season kind of started in spring training, because of the (starting pitching) competition we had, you couldn't really let your guard down at any point.

"Starting now is something I feel comfortable doing. I know I'm getting the ball every five days, and it's really helped me relax."

After crossing home plate in the first inning, Rickie Weeks scored a run for the 17th straight game - matching a National League modern-era record and setting a club mark - when Fielder's base hit opened the scoring for Milwaukee.

Sanchez surrendered seven runs and seven hits, walking two and striking out eight in four innings.

"We have to pitch and catch the ball and try to keep them close," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We're not the type of team that can slug with other clubs, especially this one, because they can put a crooked number on the board real quick, which they did today."