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Brewers down Diamondbacks in 10 frames

Jul 21, 2011 - 6:25 AM Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - The Brewers scored three runs on four singles in the 10th inning Wednesday night to beat the Diamondbacks 5-2 and move a half-game ahead of Pittsburgh for first place in the NL Central.

Nyjer Morgan, Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks all delivered RBI base hits in the inning for Milwaukee, which has won two of the first three games in this four- game series.

The Diamondbacks tied the game 2-2 in the eighth inning on Willie Bloomquist's two-run double and had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but they stranded Justin Upton at third base after he led off with a ground- rule double and went to third on a balk.

Both teams suffered serious injuries on back-to-back plays in the fourth inning. Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew broke his right ankle on a play at the plate and Milwaukee centerfielder Carlos Gomez fractured his left clavicle on a diving catch.

Drew will miss the remainder of the season, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said.

"It's disappointing. We know how important Stephen is," said Gibson. "But if you've been around the game for a while, it's fairly common that you're going to lose star players. You hope it doesn't happen to you."

Milwaukee scored the go-ahead runs off 24-year-old right-handed reliever Ryan Cook, who was making his MLB debut after being called up from Double-A Mobile.

Cook (0-1) gave up a leadoff single to Mark Kotsay, threw a wild pitch, walked Corey Hart and then balked to move both runners up. Morgan and Braun both hit singles to right field to make it 4-2.

The hits chased Cook for Alberto Castillo, who got Prince Fielder to ground into a double play. Sam Demel came in for Castillo and surrendered an RBI single to Weeks that made it 5-2.

Reliever Takashi Saito earned the win after escaping trouble in the ninth. The Brewers moved five players to the infield with Upton at the corner and Saito got Chris Young and Ryan Roberts to ground out to third baseman Casey McGehee.

Saito (2-1) intentionally walked Kelly Johnson and Sean Burroughs flied out to end the inning.

"You can't ask for more," said Roberts. "On third base with nobody out, it's a tough one to swallow."

John Axford walked Miguel Montero to start the 10th, but earned his 26th save after getting Gerardo Parra on a 4-6-3 double play and striking out Bloomquist on three pitches.

Morgan had the go-ahead RBI five innings after he replaced the injured Gomez in center field.

"[Getting out of the ninth] gave us a lot of momentum," said Morgan. "From there the Brew Crew's going to definitely make it happen. Give us an opportunity, we're going to make it hurt."

Gomez charged a blooper from Roberts in shallow left-center and laid out to make the inning-ending catch. He landed hard on his left side and rolled, his hat popping off, and immediately grabbed at the area below his left shoulder after getting back on his feet.

"I'm bummed about [Gomez]. It's a big loss for us," said Brewers manager Ron Roenicke. "But if he doesn't make that play, we probably don't win the game."

Roenicke said Gomez could be out for a couple of months, depending on what has to be done.

One play earlier, Drew was hurt trying to score from second base on Young's hit to left field, which Braun snagged on a short-hop. The relay throw easily beat Drew, who slid feet-first across the plate and came in contact with catcher Jonathan Lucroy's shins.

Lucroy applied the tag and Drew was out, but he remained on the ground in obvious pain. Replays showed significant movement in his right foot and ankle after the slide and the Diamondbacks said he would likely need surgery.

Milwaukee starter Chris Narveson threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and no walks in a sparkling outing. The Diamondbacks only scored after he came out, pushing two across against newly-acquired Francisco Rodriguez when Bloomquist's two-out double scored Johnson.

Arizona starter Joe Saunders also went seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits in the no-decision.

Braun homered for the second day in a row, smoking Saunders' fastball deep over the wall in left-center field in the first inning to make it 1-0.

Milwaukee scored its second run with two outs in the seventh when McGehee singled, moved to second on Yuniesky Betancourt's walk and came around on Lucroy's soft single to center field.

Game Notes

The Brewers improved to 4-3 since the All-Star break...Pittsburgh lost to Cincinnati earlier Wednesday...The Diamondbacks are 3-3 since the break...Milwaukee out-hit Arizona 10-7.