Brewers Hit Five Homers in Inning

The Milwaukee Brewers hit so many home runs in the fourth inning Saturday that Manager Ned Yost lost track.

“You don’t really sit there and count them down,” he said. “There was some confusion on the bench if there were four or five home runs.”

There were definitely five -- which tied a major league record -- to spark a seven-run fourth in Milwaukee’s 11-0 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Bill Hall, Damian Miller, Brady Clark, J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder all connected, marking the first time in 40 years that a team hit five homers in one inning.

The last club to do it was the Minnesota Twins on June 9, 1966, in the seventh against the Kansas City Athletics. Three other teams have accomplished the feat: the 1939 New York Giants, 1949 Philadelphia Phillies and 1961 San Francisco Giants -- all against Cincinnati as well.

“I guess it could seem unreal,” Red Manager Jerry Narron said.

Miller went four for four with three doubles and five runs batted in, and Dave Bush pitched a four-hitter with a season-high nine strikeouts, including five in a row at one point, for his second career shutout and fourth complete game.

St. Louis 4, Chicago 1 -- Albert Pujols’ two-run single with the bases loaded ended a fifth-inning tie at St. Louis and helped the Cardinals grind out a victory.

Pujols has six RBIs in the first two games of the series. His two-out bouncer up the middle off Scott Williamson gave the Cardinals, swept earlier this month in Chicago, a chance to sweep the Cubs at home today.

Houston 3, Pittsburgh 0 -- Taylor Buchholz threw an eye-opening gem for his first major league win, coming within one out of a one-hit shutout for the Astros at Houston.

The 24-year-old rookie gave up only singles by Jeromy Burnitz in the fifth inning and Jack Wilson in the ninth. Buchholz (1-1) struck out five and walked none in his second career start and fourth appearance.

New York 8, San Diego 1 -- Pedro Martinez had a season-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings and Carlos Delgado homered in his third consecutive game to lead the Mets at San Diego.

Martinez (4-0) gave up one run and two hits and reached double-digits in strikeouts for the 105th time in his career.

Florida at Philadelphia, ppd. -- The game involving the Marlins and Phillies was postponed because of rain and will be made up on July 30 as part of a doubleheader.

Atlanta at Washington, ppd. -- The game involving the Braves and Nationals was postponed because of rain and rescheduled for Sept. 18.