• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Bush's stellar outing nearly wiped out by Blue Jays' comeback

Jun 19, 2008 - 10:50 PM By David Cotey PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Dave Bush showed the Toronto Blue Jays what they could have had.

Bush pitched seven no-hit innings against the team that drafted him before the Milwaukee Brewers held on for an 8-7 victory on Thursday and complete a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays.

Making his first appearance against the team that selected him in the second round of the 2002 draft, Bush (3-7) allowed one run and two hits and a walk and two strikeouts in eight innings - his longest outing of the season.

"It's fun to see some old friends and play against them, but once I'm on the mound, all that's past," Bush said. "I enjoyed my time there, so there was nothing I wanted to get back at."

Bush did not allow a hit until the start of the eighth, when Lyle Overbay, whom the Brewers traded to the Blue Jays in a deal for the righthander in December 2005, tripled past a diving Ryan Braun in left field leading off.

"Somebody had to do it," Overbay said. "It's the last thing you want to do, to get no-hit. He was throwing cutters and fastballs. He was making the right pitch at the right time. It seems that's been happening to us too often."

Bush has never thrown a no-hitter in his professional career, though he did take one into the eighth inning as a rookie in 2004. The Brewers' only no-hitter came from Juan Nieves at the Baltimore Orioles on April 15, 1987.

"I wasn't actively thinking about it on every pitch, but I was aware of the situation," Bush said. "It was not something I was thinking about every time I stepped on the rubber. I knew that if Braun was going to make the catch it was going to be an outstanding catch. I guess I'd rather give it up on a nice, clean line drive than a groundball single."

Bush also gave up an RBI single to Alex Rios before turning the game to the Milwaukee bullpen in the ninth.

However, Toronto's offense came alive in the absence of Bush, getting a two-run homer from Overbay and a grand slam from Joe Inglett to close within 8-7.

Brewers closer Salomon Torres had to come on to record the final out of the game for his 10th save after relievers Tim Dillard and David Riske combined to allow six runs in the frame.

"A nice run, but we were too far behind," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We didn't quit, we never gave up, but we're not winning games right now. We're not playing well enough to win."

Early on it was all Milwaukee as Russell Branyan hit a three-run homer off A.J. Burnett (6-7) in the third inning for a 6-0 lead. It was his fourth home run in his last five games, including one in each game of the series. Branyan now has 10 home runs and 17 RBI since making his debut with the Brewers on May 25.

"He's got a lot of power," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "The adjustments he's made - right now, he's very soft and very slow at the plate - have put him in a good position to drive the ball. We've always known when he makes contact, his numbers are huge."

Prince Fielder added his second career inside-the-park home run in the fifth when his line drive off Burnett got stuck underneath the padding of the wall in right field. Right fielder Alex Rios approached the ball with his arms up, but first base umpire Chad Fairchild never ruled the ball dead, and Fielder alertly circled the bases.

"It was the weirdest (home run), but I'll take however many I can get like that," Fielder said. "I didn't think I'd get another inside-the-park one, but anything is possible."

Fielder's home run came a year and two days after his first inside-the-park shot, a ball that got lost in the backdrop of the white ceiling at the Metrodome in Minnesota.

Burnett gave up all eight runs and eight hits with four walks and five strikeouts in five innings, his third outing of five or fewer innings.

Over that span, Burnett has had an 11.30 ERA, giving up 22 hits in 14 1/3 innings.

Fielder finished with two hits and three runs scored and Corey Hart had a two-run double for the Brewers, who won their fourth straight game and 13th of their last 18.

Scott Rolen and Vernon Wells combined to go hitless in eight at-bats for the Blue Jays, who lost their fifth straight game and 13th of their last 17.