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Braun powers Brewers past Cardinals

May 11, 2008 - 11:06 PM By J.R. Radcliffe PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Ryan Braun made it cool to be pretty in pink.

Wielding a pink bat, distributed by Major League Baseball during the sport's campaign against breast cancer on Mother's Day, Braun swatted a pair of home runs and lifted the Brewers to a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Braun hit solo shots in the third and fifth inning against Braden Looper (5-2), who lasted six innings and allowed four runs.

The 2007 National League Rookie of the Year was not with the team when Milwaukee's Bill Hall made a habit of celebrating Mother's Day as such, hitting home runs with the pink bat in 2006 and 2007.

"I give my mom all the credit. Forgot to get her a gift, so I'll tell her that's her present," Braun said. "It's a special day for my mom, for moms all over the world.

"(The pink bats) felt harder, seriously. A lot of us were saying that. It felt like it might have been better wood. We'll see what I can do about keeping it."

Jeff Suppan (2-2), a former Cardinals postseason hero, allowed six hits and five walks in seven innings but limited St. Louis to one run by keeping the ball out of the air - inducing 10 groundouts.

It was the first win by a Brewers starter other than Ben Sheets since April 5, when Manny Parra earned a victory over the San Francisco Giants.

"I think when you win, that's the important thing," Suppan said. "I didn't even really notice (the long streak without a win) until I started hearing it more. You go through the ups and downs of the season. When you get the wins, it doesn't matter who gets them."

Chris Duncan delivered an RBI single in the third for St. Louis, which had baserunners in every inning but one. The Cardinals have lost four of five.

Brian Shouse, called upon for a one-out save after two runners reached in the ninth against Salomon Torres, allowed an RBI single to Yadier Molina before getting Adam Kennedy to ground out.

It was Shouse's first save of the season for a team that removed regular closer Eric Gagne from his role after Saturday's loss in favor of a committee approach.

"Real exciting, watching that 79 (miles per hour) coming in there," Shouse joked. "I'm not going to get most of those things, it's going to be (Guillermo) Mota and (David) Riske and Torres. I'm not going to be too much in play there, I wouldn't think."

Prince Fielder hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning, followed by a run-scoring double from Corey Hart to spot Milwaukee a 2-0 lead in the opening frame.

"It was definitely a battle from the beginning of the game," Looper said. "When you give up two runs in the first, that doesn't make it easy on the guys. I wish I could have not done that, but I just had to battle as best I could."

As for Braun's blasts, Looper said, "I gave him two fastballs up, and he basically did with them what you're supposed to do with them."

Eight of Milwaukee's nine hits came with the pink bats.

St. Louis hurt itself by committing four outs on the basepaths, including three by Albert Pujols - a caught stealing, an out trying to reach third on Duncan's single and a double play when Hall snared a liner in the sixth and fired to second base.

"It just wasn't a real crisp game from the Cardinals side," manager Tony La Russa said.