Miami, FL – Yovani Gallardo tossed eight shutout innings as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins, 6-1, to take the opener of a three-game set at Marlins Park on Monday.
Gallardo (5-6) allowed just four hits and struck out four to keep an unbeaten record against the Marlins, improving to 4-0 lifetime against Miami.
Jonathon Lucroy went 4-for-5 with two RBI and Carlos Gomez added three hits while also knocking in two runs for the Brewers, who have won four straight. Milwaukee tied a season high with 16 hits.
"We're a good hitting lineup, even without Braun in there," Lucroy said. "When Braun is healthy its just going to make us that much better. I really think that we're one of the best hitting teams in the big leagues."
Ricky Nolasco (3-7) yielded four runs on a season-high ten hits while striking out five over 5 1/3 innings for Miami. He hasn't collected a win in his last four outings.
Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton returned from the disabled list and went 1-for-4 with a single.
"It is one of those things you have to monitor, and its going to be in your head for a little bit, at least," Stanton said of his injured hamstring, which caused him to miss 35 games.
The Brewers got the scoring going early and often, putting runs on the board in each of the first three innings.
Norichika Aoki doubled to start off the contest, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Gomez later delivered an RBI single to left to score Aoki and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Rob Brantley. Lucroy drove in Gomez with a two-out single up the middle to grab a quick 2-0 lead.
Aoki singled in the second and was put into scoring position by a Jean Segura groundout. With two outs, Gomez looped a ball into center field that dropped in and brought home Aoki for the second straight inning.
Rickie Weeks connected on a line drive that went over the left-field wall in the third to bring the lead to 4-0. Weeks finished the game 3-for-5.
The Brewers tacked on two more runs in the seventh off Marlins reliever Ryan Webb. Gomez tripled, his sixth of the year, to start the inning and crossed the plate two batters later on a Lucroy single. Juan Francisco added a bases- loaded sacrifice fly to make it a six-run advantage.
The Marlins' lone run came in the ninth after Juan Pierre tripled to deep center and scored on an RBI groundout by Ed Lucas.
Game Notes
Milwaukee's Ryan Braun was out of the lineup due to a thumb injury that made him exit Sunday's game against Philadelphia ... Gallardo recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in the seventh inning ... Aoki has gone 71 consecutive plate appearances without striking out ... Marlins third baseman Placido Polanco left the game in the sixth inning with lower back stiffness ... The Brewers were 6-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
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