Fielder homers as Brewers beat Marlins 5-3

[May 15, 2009]  MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Prince Fielder hit a go-ahead home run and Dave Bush turned in another strong start as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Florida Marlins with a 5-3 victory Thursday.

Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his eighth save, and has yet to give up a run in nine innings this season. The Brewers have won nine of 11 and begin a nine-game road trip at St. Louis on Friday night.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Marlins and a short afternoon for Josh Johnson, who walked five in only four innings.

With the score tied at 3 in the fifth, Fielder clubbed a 2-2 pitch from reliever Burke Badenhop (2-2) just over the wall in left-center field. It was Fielder's eighth homer of the season and his third in the last three games after hitting a pair Tuesday night against Florida.

J.J. Hardy added an RBI single with two outs in the sixth for a 5-3 lead.

Bush (2-0) struck out seven and gave up two earned runs in seven innings. He has lasted seven innings in each of his last three starts, giving up three runs or less each time out.

Florida's Ross Gload tied it at 3 with a solo homer to lead off the fifth -- and this time, he didn't flirt with the foul pole. He had a home run taken away after an instant replay review Wednesday night, with umpires reversing the original call and ruling the ball foul. Gload eventually struck out in that at-bat.

The Marlins took a 1-0 lead when Dan Uggla scored on a wild pitch by Bush in the second. Bill Hall's two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning -- the 100th of his career -- gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.

The Brewers then took a 3-1 lead in the third thanks to some sloppy fielding by the Marlins.

After Johnson issued back-to-back walks to Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun hit a grounder to third. Emilio Bonifacio fielded the ball and stepped on third for a force out, but threw wildly to first and Hardy came all the way around to score.

Hanley Ramirez doubled and scored on an error by Weeks at second base in the fourth, cutting the Brewers' lead to 3-2.

Notes: Brewers backup C Mike Rivera returned from his stint on the disabled list with a sprained left ankle and C Carlos Corporan was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. ... Ramirez has an 11-game hitting streak. ... 3B Mat Gamel, a highly regarded Brewers prospect, struck out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.

[Associated Press; By CHRIS JENKINS]

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