Brewers shoot for series win over Braves
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The Milwaukee Brewers attempt to get back to .500 on Tuesday when they continue a three-game set with the Atlanta Braves at Miller Park.
Milwaukee's slim postseason hopes were helped with a win in Monday's opener, as Norichika Aoki's two-run double highlighted a four-run seventh inning that propelled the Brewers to a 4-1 win
Carlos Gomez added a sacrifice fly for the Brewers, who have won seven straight home games and are now five games back of the final wild card spot in the National League.
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With another win Milwaukee will be at .500 for the first time since it was 9-9 on April 24.
Wily Peralta limited the NL wild card-leading Braves to one run on seven hits over six innings in his second major league start. The Brewers' late offensive surge made a winner out of Jose Veras (4-4), who escaped a bases-loaded jam on a Michael Bourn flyout in the top of the seventh.
Atlanta threatened again in the eighth, but Martin Prado was gunned down trying to reach third base on a Freddie Freeman single to end the inning.
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John Axford tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 28th save of the season.
"A lot of good things happened without getting a lot of hits," said Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke.
Mike Minor gave up two hits, walked two and struck out eight in 5 2/3 scoreless innings for Atlanta, which had its winning streak stopped at five games.
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Getting the call for the Braves on Tuesday will be righty Tim Hudson, who is 14-5 with a 3.59 ERA. Hudson was brilliant in beating Colorado on Thursday, as he scattered six hits over seven scoreless innings.
"It definitely wasn't my best stuff," Hudson said. "I smoke-and-mirrored them a little bit." ] Hudson has faced the Brewers nine times and is 4-3 with a 3.09 ERA.
Milwaukee, meanwhile, will counter with righty Marco Estrada, who lost to Miami his last time out. Estrada surrendered four runs and seven hits in five innings of that one and fell to 2-6 on the year, while raising his ERA to 3.99.
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"It was brutal," Estrada said. "I felt all out of whack. I just wasn't making my pitches and even when I did they got hit."
Estrada is 1-1 in seven games (2 starts) against the Braves with a 7.02 ERA.
Atlanta had won seven straight against the Brewers before bowing in Monday's opener.