• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Hoffman earns 593rd save, Brewers beat Rockies 5-4

Apr 7, 2010 - 10:23 PM By CHRIS JENKINS AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE(AP) -- Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder weren't carrying the offense like they usually do. And the Milwaukee Brewers didn't get anything approaching the kind of start they're expecting from Doug Davis this season.

So Jim Edmonds started a sixth-inning rally from the bottom half of the lineup and the Brewers' bullpen stood firm, holding the Colorado Rockies scoreless over the final five innings in a 5-4 victory Wednesday.

Milwaukee took two of three from Colorado after losing the season opener.

"That's not a pushover team by any means - that's a good team," said Milwaukee's Jody Gerut, whose pinch-hit RBI double gave the Brewers the lead in the sixth. "And so it took almost all of us to win, but we got it today."

Reliever Todd Coffey (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings after a rough start by Davis.

The Brewers used a total of seven pitchers Wednesday, including LaTroy Hawkins' perfect eighth inning and Trevor Hoffman's 593rd career save.

"The Rockies are an extremely good team," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. "They just beat the death out of us last year."

Colorado scored three runs as Davis was remarkably wild in the first inning, but Rockies manager Jim Tracy said they should have scored more.

"We were in a wonderful position to take this game and force the Brewers, in my opinion, to have to pitch nine innings of bullpen today," Tracy said. "But we kind of let them off the hook."

Backup catcher Miguel Olivo homered for Colorado. Carlos Gonzalez had two hits, keeping up his fast start to the season.

Tracy dipped deep into his bench only three games into the season, giving first baseman Todd Helton, outfielder Brad Hawpe, catcher Chris Iannetta and second baseman Clint Barmes the day off.

Helton and Hawpe appeared as pinch-hitters in the ninth as Hoffman earned his second save of the season, moving him closer to becoming the first pitcher with 600 career saves.

"They did the small things to win today," Troy Tulowitzki said. "We didn't. That's basically what it comes down to."

Edmonds, a 39-year-old former All-Star who spent last season out of baseball, made his second start in right field for Milwaukee. He went 2 for 4 with a double and scored twice.

With Milwaukee trailing 4-3 going into the sixth, Edmonds singled, went to third on a single by Casey McGehee, then scored on a sacrifice fly by George Kottaras to tie it. That was the end of the day for Rockies starter Aaron Cook (0-1), who was relieved by Randy Flores.

"They made me pay for some mistakes I made and unfortunately I wasn't able to keep the team in the game," Cook said. "They gave me some runs early and I couldn't make it stand up."

Gerut doubled, scoring McGehee to give Milwaukee a 5-4 lead. Gerut remained poised after dodging a ball high and inside earlier in the at-bat.

"You just wait for something to hit - and make sure it's not coming at your head - and try to put a good swing on it," Gerut said.

It was a shaky return to the Brewers for Davis, who rejoined his old team as a free agent in the offseason after three seasons in Arizona - a stint that included treatments for thyroid cancer in 2008. Davis first pitched for Milwaukee from 2003-06.

He was wild from the start Wednesday, giving up three runs, walking three and throwing a pair of wild pitches in the first inning alone. It could have been even worse.

"It wasn't a complete blowout," Macha said. "It could have gotten ugly in the first inning."

Macha said Davis was "a little too amped up" Wednesday, and Davis didn't disagree.

"I was really trying to do too much out there - just exactly pretty much what I told myself not to do," Davis said.

NOTES: Macha said RHP Jeff Suppan will get the first shot as the team's No. 5 starter. Suppan will make a rehabilitation start at the Brewers' Class A affiliate in Appleton, Wis., on Friday, then start a game in the Brewers' series at Chicago next week. ... Tracy said before the game that he thinks his bench will be a strong asset this season, allowing him to rest his starters more frequently. ... Davis and Coffey combined for four wild pitches.