But showing a sense of urgency and a spirit that had been missing for the last three weeks, the Brewers twice rallied from one-run deficits with timely hitting -- and a walk-off homer by Prince Fielder -- to post 7-5 victory over the Pirates Tuesday night at Miller Park.
The game-winning home run was the latest big hit for the lone Milwaukee hitter to have sustained success in September. It extended Fielder's hitting streak to 13 games, a stretch in which he's batting .412 with six homers and 17 RBI.
He had struck out twice in four previous at-bats before hitting the game-winner, a 2-0 offering from Pittsburgh right-hander T.J. Beam.
"(Manager) Dale (Sveum) just said: 'No matter how you start the game, you always can win it in the ninth,'" Fielder said.
While Fielder's homer clinched the victory, it was a pair of bunts -- something rarely seen from Milwaukee's homer-happy lineup -- that set the stage.
Jason Kendall laid down a sacrifice in the seventh and Hart in the ninth. Both of those at-bats would lead to the Brewers taking the lead and tying the game, respectively.
For a team long-reliant on the long ball, Sveum said to expect more of the same as the team sprints to the finish.
"I believe in the sacrifice bunt," Sveum said. "And we will bunt a lot more as long as I'm here."
The Brewers got contributions from a number of players snapping out of slumps.
J.J. Hardy stayed hot with a 2-for-4 night and the Brewers also got offensive contributions from Mike Cameron, who snapped an 0-for-11 stretch with a two-run double in the eighth that put Milwaukee up. 4-3.
"That's part of the problem, why we got in this position," Sveum said. "The fact of the matter is the guys came through the last couple of days to get the job done."
Starter Dave Bush recovered from a problematic second inning. The right-hander allowed three runs on three walks and a pair of hits to turn a 2-0 Milwaukee lead into a one-run deficit.
"That was a struggle for me," Bush said. "I was struggling with myself mechanically just to stay on like and make pitches. It was definitely a hard five innings for me. I had a couple tough innings there."
Sveum, who has had to juggle his rotation in the last week due to meltdowns by Manny Parra and Jeff Suppan -- as well as an injury to Ben Sheets -- was happy with the way Bush battled.
"The guy still gave up three runs in five innings. He did his job. You want that inning back, but he settled down, got some big outs and did a great job."
Bush recovered to throw a pair of scoreless innings before giving way to Todd Coffey in the sixth. Guillermo Mota gave up a two-run homer to Pirates right-fielder Steve Pearce -- the first homer allowed by Mota since July -- in the eighth inning.
The victory keeps the Brewers a game behind the Mets -- who beat Chicago, 6-2 at Shea Stadium - with five games to play. Sveum doesn't want to say his team has breathing room, but given the alternative, he likes where the Brewers are at.
"With five games left, to be two games back you'd have to win all five games," Sveum said. "It's not much breathing room, but it's a weight off the shoulders that we're not two games back without five to play."
The players, who haven't had much reason to celebrate lately, are enjoying the excitement of a post-season race.
"This is intense. It's fun," Bush said. "It's a lot better than having games that don't count right now. We're in a spot where we have to win as many as we can in the last couple days so we have to come out every day ready to go. That mean's playing every game like it's the last game of a playoff series."
NOTES: The Brewers won consecutive games for the first time since taking the middle two of a four-game series against the Padres on Sept. 4-5. ... Braun's first-inning triple gave him 100 RBIs for the season. ... Yovani Gallardo and Russell Branyan were activated from the disabled list Tuesday.
