Brewers bullpen surrenders eight earned runs in loss to Braves

Braves 9, Brewers 3

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Brian McCann quickly made up for his lapse.

One inning after a run scored when he failed to block a pitch, McCann hit a go-ahead, three-run double in a seven-run eighth, and the Atlanta Braves beat Milwaukee 9-3 Wednesday to send the Brewers to their seventh loss in eight games.

"One minute the ball gets by me, their guy scores and they get the lead," McCann said. "I just got put in a good situation to redeem myself."

Milwaukee had gone ahead 2-1 in the seventh when Damian Miller scored on Tim Hudson's wild pitch.

"Any time you mess up and a runner scores because of you, it's not a good feeling," McCann said. "At the same time you can't just sit there and think about it. I came in and let some frustration out in the dugout and kind of regrouped myself. Everything worked out."

Hudson (6-3) threw his glove on the dugout bench when he came in after the inning.

"I felt like my 2-year-old little boy after he throws a tantrum," Hudson said. "Then I felt pretty good after that. Mac was kicking himself for not blocking it, but I told him it was a tough pitch. I thought that was the ballgame. I couldn't believe it. I thought I was about to lose a game 2-1 on a wild pitch."

Derrick Turnbow (1-3) replaced starter Dave Bush to start the eighth but walked Kelly Johnson and Willie Harris with one out. Edgar Renteria loaded the bases with an infield single off diving third baseman Ryan Braun, who made his major league debut last week.

Brian Shouse relieved, and McCann doubled to the gap in left-center on his second pitch for a 4-2 lead.

"It was a bad time to throw a bad pitch," Shouse said.

Andruw Jones followed with an RBI double against Chris Spurling and scored on Jeff Francoeur's single. Matt Diaz and Johnson added run-scoring singles Diaz had grounded out as a pinch hitter leading off the inning.

Milwaukee has lost 14 of 19 following a 24-10 start. The NL Central leader has dropped six consecutive series.

"This series is over," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "We've got another one tomorrow."

Hudson allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings,

"He should be 9-2 and has pitched lights out all year," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "I can't say enough about him."

Prince Fielder hit his league-leading 18th homer his 12th of the month which ties a club record with three others in the bottom half of the eighth off Rafael Soriano. Jones added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Braun's RBI grounder in the first was offset in the third by Johnson's solo homer, his seventh of the season and first since April 25.

Game notes
Milwaukee is 25-2 when leading after the seven innings. ... Atlanta's Chipper Jones missed his seventh game in a row as a result of a cortisone shot in his right hand. ... Braves pitcher John Smoltz, who left Tuesday's game in the fourth inning after he irritated a pinky injury, played catch before the game and said he felt fine. ... McCann hit a foul ball in the first inning that went under Miller's right leg and bounced off his throwing hand. ... Braves assistant clubhouse manager Chris Van Zant ran as the hot dog in the sausage race and took third place. ... Hudson has allowed seven runs in the first inning, the most he's given up in any inning.