MILWAUKEE _ Those who attended the game Thursday afternoon at Miller Park might have a hard time believing the Milwaukee Brewers were having trouble scoring runs.
Scoring at least one run in every inning in which they batted, the Brewers rolled to an 11-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves that allowed them to split their four-game series.
The beneficiary of the big attack was right-hander Matt Garza, who limited the Braves to two runs over six innings to boost his record to 4-4. In his last four outings, Garza has fashioned a 3.09 earned run average.
It was Chris Carter's three-run homer Wednesday night that made the difference in the Brewers' 4-3 victory over the Braves and he picked up where he left off in his first at-bat. With a runner on second and two down, he drove a 3-2 slider from Roberto Hernandez out to left for his 27th home run and a 2-0 lead.
The Brewers stole their third run in the second inning, more or less. With Keon Broxton on third and Manny Pina on first with one down, Pina broke for second as Garza squared around to bunt with two strikes. The pitch was wide, Garza pulled back his bat and catcher Anthony Recker threw down to nab Pina, allowing Broxton to come home on a fielder's choice.
The Brewers went back to the long ball for their next two runs. With two down in the third, Scooter Gennett hammered his career-high 10th homer of the season to right-center off Hernandez.
Hernan Perez made it a 5-0 game by leading off the Brewers fourth with a towering homer to left, his ninth of the season.
With two down in the bottom of the fifth, Orlando Arcia drew a walk, then moved up on a wild pickoff attempt by reliever Brandon Cunniff. Gennett then blooped an opposite-field hit inside the left-field line and Arcia came around to put the Brewers ahead, 6-0.
Garza took a three-hit shutout into the sixth inning but Erick Aybar put an end to that by leading off with a home run to right. Freddie Freeman followed with an opposite-field double to left and scored when Nick Markakis singled to right.
With the Braves suddenly within 6-2, Garza buckled down and got out of the inning without further damage.
The Brewers' offense went back to work in the bottom of the inning when Pina ripped a three-run double to boost the lead back to seven runs. Perez then put the home team into double figures with a run-scoring single in the seventh.
