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Parra solid as Brewers edge Giants

Apr 5, 2008 - 10:39 PM By Nick Berenz PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- It proved to be a day of firsts for Manny Parra and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Parra pitched five innings of no-hit ball and struck out seven in his season debut Saturday, leading the Brewers to a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Ryan Braun and Gabe Kapler both belted their first homers of the season while closer Eric Gagne recorded his first save of the season for the Brewers, who have won four of their first five games this year.

One of the Brewers' highly touted prospects, Parra (1-0) did not allow a hit until Eugenio Velez led off the sixth inning with a triple to right field. The lefthander surrendered two runs, three hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.

"I don't know if it's as good of stuff as I've ever had, but that's what I expect out of myself," Parra said. "That's me being aggressive, that's the way I was early in spring training and that's me pitching with the right mindset."

With the release of Claudio Vargas and injuries to Yovani Gallardo and Chris Capuano, Parra won the fifth starter role for the Brewers in spring training. Parra was expected to be the odd man out when Gallardo returns in the coming weeks.

Braun, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, was hitless in his last 10 at-bats and owned a .211 average entering the game.

But Braun broke out with a pair of hits, including his 405-foot home run to left field which gave the Brewers a 4-2 lead.

After the Giants pulled within 4-3 in the seventh, Kapler belted the first pinch-hit home run of his career as the Brewers regained their two-run advantage.

"When (Kapler) came to spring training, you could see real quick this guy still had game left in him," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "He has played like this from the first day of spring training. He's a very solid player, very fundamental player and a winning-type player."

Ray Durham homered in the eighth inning to account for the Giants' final run. The veteran second baseman finished with two hits.

In his first appearance at Miller Park, Gagne pitched a perfect ninth inning for his first save in a Brewers uniform.

Gagne was hit hard in his Brewers debut on Opening Day in Chicago. The Cubs tagged the righthander for three runs and handed him his first blown save when inheriting a three-run lead.

"I was a little bit more relaxed and threw strikes," Gagne said. "I got out of my delivery a little bit in Chicago, and I've been working on it a little bit.

"I'm healthy finally on the mound and just worried about getting people out, so it's pretty good to be able to do that."

Giants starter Kevin Correia (0-1) gave up four runs and struck out four over six innings.

"He gave an early cheap run or he would have had a quality start," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I thought he threw the ball really well."