Fielder's 40th HR boosts Brewers

MILWAUKEE -- Prince Fielder hit his National League-leading 40th home run of the season, Bill Hall showed more signs of breaking out of a prolonged slump and rookie Ryan Braun had 3 hits including a homer as the host Brewers powered past the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 on Sunday.

"In years past, by this time, nothing really mattered," Fielder said. "It's good that every game really counts no matter who you're playing. Every game, there's a lot of intensity and every pitch counts. It's really fun."

The Brewers remained 1½ games behind the Cubs, who rallied to beat the Houston Astros. But at least manager Ned Yost's team appears to be headed in the right direction again.

"You know what? We did our part and we won today," Yost said. "And that's what we do again tomorrow."

Brewers starter Jeff Suppan (9-11), who won for the first time since June 22 on Sunday, says he's no scoreboard watcher -- but admits he's paying close attention to the Brewers' division rivals when he's not on the mound.

"Of course you pay attention," Suppan said.

It's been a long time since they Brewers have played meaningful September games. Since moving to the NL in 1998, the Brewers (69-67) have never been above .500 on Sept. 2.

"It's a hard feeling to describe, because the wins feel so much better and the losses hurt so much more," Yost said.

And the Brewers have been hurting a lot of late, having gone 9-18 in August and 3-6 on a recent road trip that included a three-game sweep by lowly San Francisco and 2 losses in three games to the Cubs.

But after sweeping the Pirates, the Brewers have their longest winning streak since winning four straight games July 14-17.

Fielder's 2-run homer off Pirates reliever Franquelis Osoria (0-1) in the sixth put the Brewers ahead 7-4. Fielder is the fourth Brewers player to hit 40 home runs in a season; Richie Sexson hit 45 in 2003 and 2001, Gorman Thomas hit 45 in 1979 and Ben Oglivie hit 41 in 1980.

Hall broke a 4-4 tie in the fifth inning with an RBI single off of Osoria. After a 4-RBI day on Saturday, Hall finally seems to be getting hot after struggling for most of the season.

"That's a big pickup right there," Yost said. "We need Billy to get hot."

The Brewers wore out Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny, forcing him to throw 105 pitches in 4 innings. Gorzelanny, who was 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his 3 previous starts on the road, gave up 6 hits and 3 earned runs in 4 innings.

"For the second day in a row, we got into our bullpen way and well before we would have liked to," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "It got us in a very tough spot."

Braun hit a 2-run homer in the fourth, his 26th.