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Mench, Brewers power past Marlins

Jun 2, 2007 - 4:14 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- After watching Prince Fielder do the heavy lifting in recent games, Kevin Mench and the rest of the Brewers joined in the fun.

Mench drove in four runs and rookie Ryan Braun and Tony Graffanino each plated two as the Brewers posted an 8-5 victory over the Florida Marlins on Friday.

Braun scored three times and Bill Hall crossed home plate twice for Milwaukee, which had seen Fielder homer in four straight games to tie for the major league lead with 19.

"Driving in runs is contagious more than anything, one guy gets going and you start from there," Mench said. "We've got guys up and down the lineup that can do it."

Fielder went 0-for-2 against Florida, walking twice and scoring one of eight two-out runs for Milwaukee.

"Any time you can score runs with two outs, it's like a final nail in someone's coffin," Mench said. "Basically, you're telling them you're not giving up."

"We've got to finish the innings," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We can't let them linger around. We're just having trouble closing innings out right now."

Mench came into the game with just three hits in his previous 27 at-bats for a .111 batting average. Neither he nor Graffanino had driven in a run since May 1.

"Both of them have been working hard and you knew it was just a matter of time they broke out of it," Brewers manager Ned Yost said.

Brewers starter Jeff Suppan (7-5) allowed four runs, six hits and three walks in seven innings to improve to 4-3 lifetime vs. the Marlins.

"The Marlins have a lot of power," Suppan said. "The idea is to stay away from the big inning."

Reliever Derrick Turnbow pitched the seventh and, after Matt Wise allowed two baserunners with two outs in the ninth, Francisco Cordero came on to strike out Miguel Cabrera to record his 20th consecutive save.

After Florida took an early lead on solo homers by Dan Uggla in the first and Hanley Ramirez in the third, Milwaukee rallied in the next two innings. In the fourth inning after Mench hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, Graffanino hit a two-run double down the left field line to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead.

"It was nice to feel like I contributed for a change," Graffanino said. "Forget the RBI. It felt good to feel like I did something to help the ballclub."

In the fifth, after Corey Hart hit a one-out single and stole second base, Braun homered two batters later on the first pitch offered by Scott Olsen over the center field wall to make it 5-2. It was Braun's second homer this season and his first at Miller Park.

"I think I stayed within myself a little bit better today and swung at some pitches I could drive," Braun said. "It's something I've been dreaming about for a long time and I'm happy it came in a big situation and came in a victory."

Olsen (4-5) surrendered five runs, eight hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings. The lefthander, who struck out two, has allowed at least three runs in all but two of his 12 starts in 2007.

"The (pitches) I left up, they hit," Olsen said. "Today was (about) bad pitches. They were up in the zone. The Brewers hit every bad pitch I made."

Olsen appeared to make an obscene gesture toward the crowd when he walked off the field in the sixth inning.

"Write what you want," said Olsen, who did not deny he made the gesture. "You know how I am. I don't take losing well."

After the Marlins cut their deficit to 5-4 in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Uggla and a run-scoring single by Ramirez, the Brewers broke the game open in the bottom half of the frame.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Mench hammered a double off reliever Justin Miller into the left field corner, clearing the bases to make it 8-4.

"There's a huge difference between a one-run lead and a four-run lead going into the ninth inning," Yost said. "That was a huge hit."

Ramirez had three hits for Florida, which has lost two straight road games after winning six in a row away from home.