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Parra strong, Braun homers twice as Brewers roll

Jun 18, 2008 - 3:46 AM By Nick Berenz PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Ryan Braun continued his assault on the record books.

Braun homered twice and became the quickest player to 150 career RBI in 57 years while Manny Parra threw a gem as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-0, at Miller Park on Tuesday.

Parra (6-2) posted fifth straight victory by throwing seven scoreless innings in extending his record to a perfect 4-0 at home. The lefthander allowed just four hits, struck out four and walked five.

Braun's 19th home run of the season - a solo shot in the sixth - was his 150th career RBI in his first 182 career games. The 24-year-old became the fastest player to 150 since Walt Dropo did it with the Boston Red Sox in 155 games from 1949-51.

"I was seeing the ball in high definition today," Braun joked.

"Anytime you're mentioned in a historical sense in this game, it's a cool thing," Braun said. "It puts into perspective how much I've accomplished this soon."

The reigning National League Rookie of the Year added a two-run blast in the eighth inning for the seventh multi-home run game of his career and fourth this season.

Prince Fielder, Craig Counsell and Russell Branyan each homered for Milwaukee, which received all of its offense via the home run. Fielder got the scoring started by driving the first pitch of the second frame 440 feet to straight-away center for his 12th of the season.

Counsell hit his first home run since July 25, 2007, in the third to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead. Branyan's fourth-inning, two-run shot sealed the fate of Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan (5-5).

"The guys have been on me because in batting practice I take five swings and three of them hit off the wall," Counsell said. "I told them I needed that live pitcher to get it."

Branyan's home run in the fourth was his eighth in 17 games - the third most in the National League over that period - since having his contract purchased from Class AAA Nashville on May 24.

"He's given us a big boost and that's an understatement," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "He's been a very, very productive piece of our offense and the adjustments he's made have been phenomenal."

The Blue Jays, losers of three straight and nine of their last 12, were looking to McGowan to continue his stellar pitching. The righthander had won three straight decisions and was coming off a complete-game win over the Mariners last Tuesday.

But McGowan couldn't keep the ball in the park, giving up four runs - three home runs - and four hits in four innings. McGowan struck out five and did not walk a batter.

"They took it to us with seven hits and five home runs, it's tough to match that," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "It's been a tough month but we really couldn't stop them tonight."

The Blue Jays have lost eight straight to the Brewers, but this was their first visit to Miller Park. The teams last faced off in Milwaukee was in 1997 at County Stadium.

Toronto's offense continued to sputter, managing just four hits. The top four hitters in the lineup went just 1-for-15 Tuesday with five strikeouts.

"It's frustrating for everybody in that lineup and it's gone on for too long," said Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells, who had the lone hit of that bunch. "Obviously we're better than this but we haven't done what we need to do to be successful."