Brewers Double Up Cards

The home run barrage continued at Busch Stadium. This time, though, the St. Louis Cardinals were on the wrong end.

Three homers accounted for six of Milwaukee's runs as the Brewers beat the Cardinals 8-4 Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep. Ron Belliard's two-out three-run homer in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie. Geoff Jenkins hit a two-run shot in the seventh, and Tyler Houston added a solo homer in the ninth.

"We've got some good hitters, too," Belliard said. "Once we get a big hit, everyone relaxes."

Eric Davis hit a solo homer for St. Louis in the seventh, his third, and Mark McGwire hit his seventh homer, a two-run shot in the ninth, giving the Cardinals home runs in 18 straight games, breaking a team record set in 1998. The Cardinals have hit 52 home runs in April, a major league record for the month, and they're six short of the record for any month, set by the Baltimore Orioles in May 1987.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for St. Louis.

Jimmy Haynes (3-1) allowed five hits and three walks in seven innings. Losing pitcher Pat Hentgen (3-2) had two of the hits. St. Louis pitchers are hitting .240 for the season.

Haynes, aquired in the offseason from Detroit, lowered his ERA to 3.98.

"He had a lot of guys off-stride with his breaking ball," Milwaukee manager Davey Lopes said. "A tough lineup, and he pitched them tough."

Hentgen was even more impressive through five innings, shutting out the Brewers on one hit, and caught a break in the sixth when James Mouton singled but was caught trying to steal. Catcher Mike Matheny has thrown out 12 of 17 (70.6 percent) of would-be base-stealers this season.

But then a break went against Hentgen. After Mark Loretta walked and Jeromy Burnitz singled, Jenkins grounded a ball headed for shortstop Placido Polanco and an inning-ending double play. Hentgen blocked it with his foot, deflecting the ball to the left side of the infield, where it trickled through for a run-scoring single.

"That's an instinctive thing," manager Tony La Russa said. "You try to teach guys not to make that one. It never works out good."

Belliard took a borderline pitch with the count 1-2, held up on a half-swing on 2-2, then hit a hanging curve ball over the left-field wall for his third homer of the season. It was the fourth straight curve Hentgen threw to Belliard.

"I just wish I could take that pitch back," said Hentgen, who has lost two straight after starting 3-0. "It's frustrating a little bit to get beat with your third and fourth pitch two consecutive starts."

St. Louis scored in the first when Fernando Vina singled, went to second on a wild pitch and third on a fly ball, and scored on another wild pitch.

The start of the game was delayed an hour and 17 minutes by rain.

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