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Brewers: Home opener a barrel of fun
STEVE APPS - State Journal
Brewers' Bill Hall, left, is given an ovation after his two-run HR against the Giants in the first inning Friday at Miller Park.
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FRI., APR 4, 2008 - 10:45 PM
Brewers: Home opener a barrel of fun
By VIC FEUERHERD
608-252-6175
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers want the 45,212 who bobbed and weaved their way around Miller Park on Friday afternoon to think that their 13-4 thrashing of the San Francisco Giants is just one small hint of what's to come over the next six months.

And if the Brewers are correct, then the loud, raucous, beer-fueled party that was Miller Park this day and every Opening Day in these parts just might pale in comparison to what is coming.

That's because the Brewers put on as complete a show as possible in a nine-inning game.

It was a victory that featured three innings of crooked numbers going up on the scoreboard and nine innings of solid pitching from starter Carlos Villanueva, Brian Shouse and Salomon Torres, who went the final three innings to pick up what might prove to be the easiest save the Brewers get this year.

"The fans have been hearing a lot about this team all through the spring," manager Ned Yost said. "It was a good chance to see what they will be rooting for all summer long."

Start with the sticks that pounded out 16 hits off four Giants pitchers, an offense that jump-started in the first inning with three runs and then had five-run eruptions in the fifth and sixth.

The Brewers featured the long ball off the bat of Billy Hall, who hit a two-run homer in the first and a three-run blast in the fifth en route to a career-high six RBIs.

They featured the short ball in the form of six hits in that five-run sixth with four singles, and doubles from Jason Kendall and Prince Fielder.

They showed the hit-run-hit attack when Rickie Weeks scored the first run with a leadoff single and stolen base that resulted in a run when Fielder grounded a single up the middle through the Giants' overshifted infield.

Perhaps even more important, the Brewers didn't settle for the three runs they scored in the first, or go through the motions after scoring five in the fifth.

Unlike last year, when so many times they let early leads shrivel because of a dormant offense, they just kept scoring.

"We want to put away people and continue to pound," Hall said.

The pitching was not quite up to the standards of the offense, or so the dour look on Villanueva's face afterward would indicate.

Still, he retired the leadoff hitter in every inning he pitched. He wiggled out of two-out, two-on jams in the second and fourth without any damage.

His easiest inning was the fifth, when he retired the top of the Giants' lineup in order.

But with his pitch count nearing 100, he tired in the sixth, allowing four straight one-out hits and two runs before giving way to Shouse, who calmed the threat and left the Brewers with an 8-2 lead.

"I'm a little hard on myself," said Villanueva, who threw 104 pitches and struck out six in 5.1 innings. "I take a while to cool off. I thought that could have been a lot worse. … But none of that matters now. You do what you have to do to get a win."

There were no complaints from other quarters, though.

"He has a lot of poise," Kendall said of Villanueva, who is starting his second full season with the Brewers and his first as a regular member of the rotation. "He acts like he has five, six, seven years in him."

In fact, this was an entire Brewers team that for at least one day acted as if they were actually older than they are.

"Everything," Yost answered when asked what pleased him most about the victory. "It was very nice."

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