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MILWAUKEE — Tony La Russa was reunited with the Bash Brothers yesterday, but the 2011 version wears Brewers uniforms and likely isn’t juiced to the hilt.
Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder put on a show that made the 29 years since the Brewers last played for a pennant seem worth the wait around here. The ball was jumping at Miller Park, leaving a sellout crowd of 43,613 to jump for joy.
With Braun and Fielder combining for two home runs and six RBIs, the Brewers beat the Cardinals 9-6 in Game 1 of the NLCS.
La Russa, who managed the original Bash Brothers of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire with Oakland in the 1980s and ’90s, is left to pick up the pieces with the Cardinals, who watched the Brewers score six runs in the fifth inning to seize control of the game.
Braun pulled the Brewers within 5-4 on a two-run double against Jaime Garcia in the fifth, before Fielder put the Brewers ahead for good with a two-run homer. The Brewers weren’t done in the inning. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two-run homer against Octvaio Dotel to provide a cushion.
“We have an offense that’s not necessarily dependent on the home run, but at times in the year we’ve relied on it,” Braun said after going 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs. “Whenever, offensively you have multiple guys that can hit home runs, it can happen quickly.”
The Brewers, who had the best home record in the major leagues this season, are unbeaten this year in four postseason games at Miller Park. They will send Shaun Marcum to the mound tonight against Edwin Jackson, before the series resumes in St. Louis on Wednesday.
Zack Greinke got the victory yesterday after allowing six runs on eight hits over six innings. The righty was 11-0 at home during the regular season, but appeared in trouble after the Cardinals had extended their lead to 5-2 in the fifth.
“I thought we competed on the offensive side great all night,” La Russa said. “I wish we could average six runs a game for the rest of the series.”
Garcia surrendered a leadoff single to Corey Hart in the bottom of the fifth and Jerry Hairston Jr. doubled him to third. Braun followed with a shot just inside the right-field foul line that bounced over the fence for a double. The smoke had barely clearly when Fielder hit the back wall of the Cardinals’ bullpen for his second homer this postseason.
“We were down there for awhile, and obviously that doesn’t feel good,” Fielder said. “Whenever we come back real quick, it’s a little extra boost.”
David Freese’s three-run homer in the fourth staked the Cardinals to a 4-2 lead. It continued a strong postseason for Freese, who drove in five runs in the NLDS against the Phillies.
Braun’s two-run homer in the first inning — a 460-foot rocket to deep left-center — had this sellout crowd rocking. Hairston walked with one out in the first and Braun hit the first pitch for his second homer this postseason. The Cardinals were among the few teams he struggled against in the regular season, hitting .225 with two homers and seven RBIs in 71 at-bats.
“It’s still the first game — you try not to get overly excited,” Braun said. “We saw that in the first round. We won the first two games, feeling great about ourselves and almost ended up losing the series.”
