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Gallardo dominant, Fielder homers as Braves top Pirates

Sep 12, 2007 - 2:52 AM By Chris Adamski PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Rookie Yovani Gallardo allowed the Milwaukee Brewers to bounce back.

The righthander pitched six shutout innings, Prince Fielder and Corey Hart each hit home runs and Ryan Braun had three RBI as the Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-1, on Tuesday night.

Milwaukee (74-70) entered the game tied with the Chicago Cubs (73-70) atop the National League Central. The Cubs were playing the Houston Astros.

"(Gallardo) is a young guy who came up, and he's had some success as soon as he came up - just like (fellow rookie) Braun," Fielder said. "It's always good when you have guys come up and be an instant success when you need it."

Pittsburgh had beaten the Brewers 9-0 on Monday night.

"We've been doing that all year long," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "We play a tough game and then come back and grind it out a little bit and make something happen."

Gallardo (8-4) has won four of his past five outings, allowing only two runs in the four victories. He allowed six hits and three walks while striking out seven Tuesday.

"Honestly, I don't think about (the pressure of pitching in a pennant race as a rookie)," Gallardo said. "Every time I get an opportunity to start, I just focus on each game. Every game from here on out is very important. I put that in mind and go out there to do the best I can."

Adam LaRoche went 2-for-4 for the Pirates, who clinched their 15th consecutive non-winning season -- longest in the franchise's 120-year history.

Fielder's homer, his 44th, accounted for the game's first run. His shot to right-center off a 1-2 pitch from Bryan Bullington came with one out in the fourth.

Gabe Gross made it 2-0 in the sixth when his ground-rule double to left scored Rickie Weeks, who had led off the inning with a walk and steal of second. Braun drove in Gross with a single to center, and that ended the night for Bullington.

Bullington (0-2), the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2002, was making his second career start after allowing five runs and nine baserunners over three innings in his previous outing Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals. He also had 1 1/3 innings of major league experience in 2005 before right shoulder surgery caused him to sit out the 2006 campaign.

"It was a much better performance, much more confident performance out of Bryan Bullington tonight," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "He did a credible job."

The righthander was charged with three runs on seven hits in five-plus innings, striking out two and walking one.

"From a comfort standpoint, it was good that I had been out there before," said Bullington. "There were some good things and bad things, obviously."

Later that inning, Hart homered to left against John Grabow to make it 4-0. It was his 21st of the season and the Brewers' 203rd, tying the 1980 team for third-most in a season in franchise history.

Milwaukee added two more in the seventh against Salomon Torres when Braun's two-out single scored J.J. Hardy and Weeks.

"We did a real good job later in the game hitting the ball, scoring some runs, adding to our lead," said Weeks, who went 3-for-4 and stole two bases.

The Pirates got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Nate McLouth doubled in Nyjer Morgan.