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Braun carries Brewers past Dodgers

May 14, 2008 - 3:48 AM By Nick Berenz PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) - At least for one night, the Milwaukee Brewers played the way they expected at the beginning of the season. Ryan Braun brought the offense and Eric Gagne closed it out.

Braun drove in a pair of runs and Gagne returned to his role as closer to lead the Brewers to their third straight win, a 5-3 victory over the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

The reigning National League Rookie of the Year, Braun has four homers and six RBI during Milwaukee's three-game winning streak. It was the fifth consecutive multi-hit game for the left fielder, who finished with a double and triple.

"Any pitch I'm getting that I should hit, I'm hitting," Braun said. "Everybody contributed tonight but, personally, I'm seeing the ball well right now."

One day after Gagne announced he was ready to return to the closer's role, manager Ned Yost obliged, allowing Gagne to pitch the ninth inning against his former team.

"I asked him if he was ready to take his role back and he said, 'Definitely, I'm more than ready,'" Yost said. "The quicker you can get him back into his role, the better it is for everybody."

Despite watching Gagne pitch two innings in the win over St. Louis on Monday, Yost opted to re-insert Gagne into his familiar role, and the former NL Cy Young Award winner responded by earning his 10th save of the season.

"It was a huge lift, especially the way the fans reacted," Gagne said of the ovation he received from the 26,465 fans in attendance. "It was just good to get back out there with the positive attitude from everyone."

Brewers starter Carlos Villanueva (2-4) gave up three runs and eight hits over six innings in the win. In his last outing, Villanueva allowed seven earned runs in five innings during a five-run loss to Florida.

"After the last outing I couldn't worry about what happened, I just knew I was going to keep getting the ball," Villanueva said. "From the third inning on, I got in my rhythm and I felt very comfortable."

Dodgers starter Brad Penny also was looking to bounce back after surrendering a career-high 10 runs in just 4 2/3 frames in Wednesday's 12-1 loss to the New York Mets. Penny carried a 3-1 lead into the fourth until things turned for the worst.

"My stuff was there but sometimes you get too comfortable with it and think you're unhittable," Penny said. "My crucial mistake was walking the pitcher, that was the game right there."

Milwaukee's Bill Hall delivered his ninth homer of the season against Penny (5-4) to close the gap at 3-2. Villanueva drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and Mike Cameron singled two outs later, setting the stage for Braun's two-run double off the left field wall.

"We've got to find a way, everybody's got to do more," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "Sometimes these one- and two-run leads have to hold up."

Prince Fielder capped the three-run inning with an RBI single to give the Brewers a 5-3 lead.

Penny allowed five runs and nine hits with six strikeouts in six innings.

Russell Martin had three hits and an RBI and Matt Kemp also drove in a run for the Dodgers, who have dropped four straight games.