MILWAUKEE _ If the Milwaukee Brewers' rebuilding process indeed is pushing forward a bit ahead of schedule, you can thank the offense for providing the nudge.
The Brewers have relied heavily on home runs this season _ nothing wrong with that as long as they keep coming _ but they also showed they can keep the line moving during an eight-run outburst in the fifth inning Saturday night at Miller Park.
The result was an 11-4 victory over the New York Mets, the Brewers' fourth in five games on this homestand. For the first time since the next-to-last day of the 2014 season, Milwaukee stands three games above .500 (20-17).
By scoring 11 runs for the second time in five days, the Brewers boosted their season total to 192, an average of 5.2 per game. Only the Washington Nationals have scored more runs (213) among the 30 major league clubs.
Travis Shaw, who has been everything the Brewers hoped for in a cleanup hitter (eight homers, 30 RBIs), started the big fifth inning with a single and capped it with a three-run homer. In between, eight hitters combined for three singles, a double, two walks and a couple of outs.
Six hitters came to the plate before reliever Hansel Robles recorded the first out. Keon Broxton singled in a run, Orlando Arcia sent home two with a liner off the wall in left and pinch-hitter Jesus Aguilar doubled in two more before Shaw broke the game wide open with his blast to right.
Brewers starter Zach Davies has been searching all year for the consistent, pinpoint command he displayed over long stretches in 2016. That search continued against the Mets with mixed success.
New York pushed across three runs in the second inning after one-out singles by T.J. Rivera and Curtis Granderson and a walk to Lucas Duda. Davies got ahead of No. 8 hitter Kevin Plawecki, 0-2, but threw three straight balls and had to come in with a fastball, which the .083 hitter whacked to left for a two-run double.
Pitcher Robert Gsellman delivered another run with a groundout, giving the Mets a 3-1 lead. It was, 4-2, entering the bottom of the fifth, when Gsellman and Robles got pummeled for the eight-spot.
