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Kottaras hits for the cycle, Brewers top Astros again

Sep 4, 2011 - 5:38 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - George Kottaras hit for the seventh cycle in Brewers history, as Milwaukee took an 8-2 win over Houston in the second of a three-game set.

After flying out in the second, Kottaras hit a solo home run in the fourth, a triple in the sixth, an RBI single in the seventh and a ground-rule double in the ninth. He became the first Brewer to hit for the cycle since Jody Gerut turned the trick on May 8, 2010 at Arizona.

"Sometimes you do things and it works out well," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of putting Kottaras in the lineup.

Prince Fielder drove in two and Craig Counsell hit a two-run homer for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who have won both games of this series after being swept in a three-game set against St. Louis.

Chris Narveson (10-6) went five innings in the start and gave up two runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts. He is 4-0 in his past seven starts.

Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer for the Astros, who had won four straight coming into the series. Bud Norris (6-9) was tagged with the loss for giving up six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings.

An RBI groundout from Fielder in the first got Milwaukee on the board, and Kottaras made it a 2-0 game in the fourth with his fourth homer of the year.

Fielder hit an RBI single and Mark Kotsay followed with a run-scoring double in the fifth for a 4-0 lead, but the Astros cut that in half in the bottom of the frame on Lee's 14th homer of the season.

Counsell, though, gave his team the runs back in the sixth with a two-run shot while Tyler Green and Kottaras each drove in a run in the seventh to make it an 8-2 contest.

Lee's single in the eighth was the only other hit Houston had after scoring in the fifth.

"I'm doing good, seeing the ball good," Lee said. "I just take it one day at a time."

Game Notes

Lee extended his hitting streak to 14 games...Milwaukee is 12-3 over its last 15 road games...The Brewers have won 11 of 14 games against the Astros this season...Narveson improved to 2-2 against the Astros in his career...Norris fell to 3-2 against the Brewers...Milwaukee hit 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position, but did strand 10.