MILWAUKEE – Ryan Braun drove in three runs and former first-round pick Jeremy Jeffress earned his first career win, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-2 victory over the Florida Marlins on Friday night.
Jeffress was taken in the first round in 2006 but his career appeared in jeopardy after he was suspended 50 games in 2007 and 100 games in '09 for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy.
On Friday ,Jeffress (1-0) entered in the fourth inning and pitched two scoreless innings. He took over for Mark Rogers, the fifth overall pick in 2004.
Braun finished 2 for 4 after missing a game because he was hit in his upper left elbow by a pitch Wednesday night.
Marlins rookie Logan Morrison's 42-game streak of reaching base safely was snapped. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
The loss mathematically eliminated the Marlins from playoff contention.
All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman gave up a run in the ninth in a non-save situation. It was the first time he pitched since recording his 600th career save on Sept. 7.
Jeffress, who turned 23 this week, had been considered one of the Brewers' top prospects before the two suspensions put his baseball future in doubt.
Rogers lasted three hitless innings in his first major league start, working out of a bases-loaded jam after he hit a batter and walked two.
The long inning cost Rogers an opportunity to pitch deeper into the game while on a 60-pitch limit.
Rogers also collected his first hit in his first career at-bat in the third on a slow roller that got under the glove of second baseman Dan Uggla. Rogers scored the first run on Braun's two-out, two-run single.
Rogers' career has been slowed by two shoulder surgeries. The 24-year-old right-hander was drafted ahead of second-round pick Yovani Gallardo, the Brewers' ace who signed a $30.1 million contract extension in April.
Braun doubled in a run in the fifth off Marlins starter Andrew Miller (1-4), another former first-round pick who has struggled to meet expectations. Prince Fielder followed with an RBI single that gave the Brewers a 4-0 lead.
Morrison's streak tied the longest in the majors this season and was the longest by a rookie in Marlins history.
Florida had just one hit through the first six innings before breaking through in the seventh with three hits, including Ozzie Martinez's RBI single.
NOTES: Brewers reliever Mike McClendon also got his first career hit in the sixth. ... Marlins INF Emilio Bonifacio (left hamstring) pinch hit and struck out in the seventh. He's expected to return to the starting lineup on Saturday. Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez (left elbow) missed his third consecutive game. Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira also had a 42-game streak of reaching base safely this season.
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