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Lohse outdoes Turner, Marlins fall to Brewers, 2-0

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[July 20, 2013]  MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Jacob Turner kept the Miami Marlins in the game. Kyle Lohse was just a bit better -- and got more run support.

Juan Francisco and Carlos Gomez each hit home runs and Lohse blanked Miami for six innings in the Brewers' 2-0 victory over the Marlins on Friday night.

Lohse (6-7) has owned the Marlins over his career. He came in 5-2 in nine starts, including a 3-0 record with the St. Louis Cardinals last season. He was in command all the way this time, too.

He struck out five, allowed five hits but no walks. It was his fourth win in his last five decisions.

Marlins manager Mike Redmond was happy with the way Turner pitched.

"It wasn't his easiest start," Redmond said. "He threw a lot of pitches. Eight days off is tough for any pitcher, let alone a young guy. But I like the way he battled. He did his job. It's good for young guys to work through things when they're not their best or don't have their best stuff and I think he was able to do that."

Turner wasn't as easy on himself.

"I definitely didn't have my best stuff," he said. "No excuse for the home runs. Francisco, I knew he got it. He's got power to the opposite field. Gomez was an 0-2 terrible pitch. The put good swings on bad pitches."

Adeiny Hechavarria had three of Miami's six hits, going 3 for 3 with three singles.

"Hech had a nice night -- three hits -- but we need those big boys at the top of the order to do the damage," Redmond said. "And, that didn't happen."

The first four batters managed just two hits, one each by Placido Polanco and Logan Morrison, the cleanup batter.

Turner was done after hitting Rickie Weeks, the first batter in the sixth. Ryan Webb came on and retired three batters. Turner (3-2) went five innings, gave up five hits, walked four and struck out six.

"It was an uphill battle all night," Turner said. "Some days you have it, some days you don't."

The Brewers were pleased to come out of the break with a win.

"It felt good to get the second half started this way," Lohse said. "We just to keep playing some clean games and just keep it going."

The Brewers (39-56) are 17 games below .500 and last in the NL Central.

"I want to play good baseball," Roenicke said. "We played good baseball tonight."

Francisco hit an opposite-field home run in the fourth, driving a 3-2 pitch from Turner into the left-field seats.

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Gomez, fresh off his first All-Star appearance, curled a two-out, 0-2 pitch around the left-field foul pole in the fifth inning.

Francisco has 12 home runs and Gomez 15 this season.

"Whether we get back to .500 or not, we got to really play well," Roenicke said. "There's no doubt about it. We've got to play really good baseball."

John Axford and Jim Henderson each pitched a scoreless inning before Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 10th consecutive save.

Lohse has had trouble keeping the ball in the park this season. The Arizona Diamondbacks hit three home runs in a 5-4 loss in his last start before the All-Star break. That pushed his total to an NL-leading 19 and a tie with Dan Haren of the Washington Nationals. Morrison came the closest to making it 20 in the fourth when he skied a pitch toward the right-field pole, but the ball turned just in front of the pole.

Ryan Braun returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bereavement list on Thursday. The Brewers' left-fielder last played July 9, a day after leaving the 15-day disabled list with a sore right thumb. He missed a total of five games, but not the continuing Biogenesis suspension rumors.

Braun went 0 for 3 off Turner before being replaced by Logan Schafer in the top of the seventh.

"It feels like it has been awhile and it has been awhile," Braun said. "I haven't done a lot of baseball stuff over the last 10 days, and I could tell."

NOTES: It was Hechavarria's fourth three-hit game of the season. ... The massive stage for Paul McCartney's sold-out concert Tuesday evening at Miller Park left quite a footprint. There was a wide area of dead grass that stretched from the front of the warning track well into center field. Some of it had been re-sodded. ... The Marlins reinstated reliever Chad Qualls (2-1, 2.89 ERA, 37 appearances) from the paternity list. The team made room for him by optioning LHP Duane Below to Triple-A New Orleans on July 14. ... Turner had made eight starts coming into the game since being called up on May 31 from Triple-A New Orleans. His 2.34 ERA ranked seventh in the NL and ninth in majors.

[Associated Press; By JOE TOTORAITIS]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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