Prince Fielder hits home run No. 40

Pittsburgh lost to pennant contender Milwaukee, 7-4.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Prince Fielder isn’t used to hitting home runs that have pennant race implications.

Fielder hit his National League-leading 40th home run of the season, Bill Hall showed more signs of breaking out of a prolonged slump and rookie Ryan Braun had three hits including a homer as the Brewers powered past the Pirates 7-4 Sunday.

“In years past, by this time, nothing really mattered,” Fielder said. “It’s good that every game really counts no matter who you’re playing. Every game, there’s a lot of intensity and every pitch counts. It’s really fun.”

Right direction

The Brewers remained 1 1/2 games behind the Cubs, but at least manager Ned Yost’s team appears to be headed in the right direction again.

“You know what? We did our part and we won today,” Yost said, “and that’s what we do again tomorrow.”

That doesn’t mean Yost and the rest of the Brewers aren’t peering at the scoreboard occasionally. On the way into his postgame news Yost glanced at a television to see the Chicago score.

Brewers starter Jeff Suppan (9-11), who won for the first time since June 22, says he’s no scoreboard watcher — but admits he’s paying close attention to the Brewers’ division rivals when he’s not on the mound.

“Of course you pay attention,” Suppan said.

It’s been a long time since they Brewers have played meaningful September games. Since moving to the NL in 1998, the Brewers (69-67) have never been above .500 on Sept. 2.

“It’s a hard feeling to describe, because the wins feel so much better and the losses hurt so much more,” Yost said.

Hurting lately

And the Brewers have been hurting a lot of late, having gone 9-18 in August and 3-6 on a recent road trip that included a three-game sweep by lowly San Francisco and two losses in three games against Chicago.

But after sweeping the Pirates, the Brewers have their longest winning streak since winning four straight games July 14-17.

Fielder’s two-run homer off Pirates reliever Franquelis Osoria (0-1) in the sixth put the Brewers ahead 7-4. Fielder is the fourth Brewers player to hit 40 home runs in a season; Richie Sexson hit 45 in 2003 and 2001, Gorman Thomas hit 45 in 1979 and Ben Oglivie hit 41 in 1980.