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MILWAUKEE (AP) -J.J. Hardy and the
Milwaukee Brewers
kept their postseason hopes alive for another day. All it took was a little patience.
Back home at Miller Park, the Brewers got three hits from Hardy and a sharp outing from
Dave Bush
to beat the
Philadelphia Phillies
4-1 Saturday night and stave off elimination in the NL division series.
''Tonight was big for us,'' Hardy said. ''I think we're going to be able to relax a little bit more and come out and play
early tomorrow.''
Prince Fielder
and
Ryan Braun
each had a sacrifice fly for Milwaukee, making its first trip to the postseason since 1982. Hardy and
Jason Kendall
added RBI singles.
The Brewers will send
Jeff Suppan
to the mound in Game 4 Sunday, hoping to draw even in the best-of-five series.
Joe Blanton
will start for Philadelphia.
The winner of the series will face the
Los Angeles Dodgers
, who beat the
Chicago Cubs
3-1 on Saturday night to finish off a sweep. Game 1 is on Thursday.
''It was good to really create some pressure for them,'' Brewers outfielder
Mike Cameron
said. ''We haven't played well the first two games, but today it was all about the energy. We were able to feed off of it
and get out early and put a little pressure on their team.''
After CC Sabathia and
Yovani Gallardo
flopped in Philly, Bush allowed one run in 5 1-3 innings. Three relievers stymied the Phillies before
Salomon Torres
worked a rocky ninth inning for the save.
Philadelphia loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth and
Pedro Feliz
hit a double-play grounder to third that appeared to drive in
Ryan Howard
.
But
Shane Victorino
, who hit a grand slam off Sabathia in Game 2, was called for interference when he didn't slide into second. The runners were
sent back to second and third, and
Carlos Ruiz
tapped back to Torres for the final out.
Phillies manager
Charlie Manuel
continued to discuss the play with umpires after the game.
''I've seen times, probably, when they didn't call that, but the umpire is standing right there on it,'' Manuel said.
Only seven teams in baseball history have come back from an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series - but the '82 Brewers
were one of them.
Interim manager
Dale Sveum
said the victory gave the Brewers confidence - and seemed pretty confident himself that the series was going the full five
games.
''Hopefully, it pays off for the next two ballgames,'' Sveum said.
The Brewers managed just three runs and seven hits as the Phillies won the first two games convincingly. But Milwaukee showed
some patience facing
Jamie Moyer
in Game 3 that was noticeably lacking in Philadelphia.
It was a surprising development for an offense that made it to the playoffs with a homer-or-nothing mentality.
''These guys knew what they had to do with a guy like Moyer on the mound,'' Sveum said.
Cameron and
Bill Hall
, two free-swinging Brewers, walked with no outs in the first against Moyer, known for his control. Both runners moved up
on a wild pitch before Fielder hit a sacrifice fly to right with one out.
Hardy followed with a run-scoring single to give Milwaukee a 2-0 lead.
''
Jamie Moyer
is kind of (Greg) Maddux,'' Hall said. ''As the crowd gets louder, he throws softer. We were trying to be patient and if he
was going to walk us, we were going to take it. He is not going to throw many pitches over the plate. He wants you to get
yourself out. We were patient early and that set the tone.''
The Phillies hid their own offensive problems in the first two games behind dominant outings from starters
Cole Hamels
and
Brett Myers
. But their struggles continued on Saturday, as
Chase Utley
, Howard and
Pat Burrell
went a combined 3-for-11 at the plate.
''Yeah, I'm concerned about it,'' Manuel said. ''But I don't know what you can do right now, especially this time of year.''
Bush (1-0) allowed the leadoff hitter to reach in four of the first six innings but managed to wiggle out of trouble. He departed
with one out and a runner on third in the sixth, and Howard's groundout off
Mitch Stetter
cut Milwaukee's lead to 3-1.
''It was a big thrill,'' Bush said. ''The crowd was outstanding.''
Moyer (0-1) was lifted in favor of pinch-hitter
Matt Stairs
in the fifth. The 45-year-old left-hander allowed four hits and two runs in four innings.
''I was comfortable, I just couldn't create any consistency,'' Moyer said. ''I felt it was going to come ... and it did. But
it was a little too late.''
Clay Condrey
replaced Moyer and hit Cameron with a pitch to lead off the fifth. Cameron went to third on Hall's single and scored on Braun's
sacrifice fly to left.
Milwaukee loaded the bases with two outs but
Craig Counsell
, who replaced
Rickie Weeks
at second base after Weeks sprained his left knee, took a called third strike to end the inning. The Brewers also left the
bases loaded in the sixth.
Bush allowed a leadoff single to Utley in the fourth but got out of a potential big inning by mowing down the heart of the
Phillies' lineup.
Utley advanced to second on Howard's groundout. But Burrell flew out to right, and Victorino lined out sharply to shortstop
Hardy to end the inning.
Victorino slammed his helmet to the ground as he ran down the first-base line.
Notes: Cameron returned to Milwaukee on Saturday after flying home to be with his wife, JaBreka, for the birth of their fourth
child, a daughter named Lilo Christina. ''It's been pretty good, nothing bad,'' Cameron said. ''I was able to get where I
needed to go, just haven't slept a lot.'' ... Howard and
Jayson Werth
both finished with two hits. ... Kendall's RBI single came in the seventh.
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