Hardy leads Brewers to 11-6 rout of Bucs

The Milwaukee standout went 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — J.J. Hardy breathed a sigh of relief after his hitting streak ended. He wasted no time starting a new one.

Hardy hit two homers, All-Star starter Ryan Braun added one and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-6 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

“I can’t explain it. It feels good, I’m just relaxed and comfortable up there and it seems like I’m getting a lot of pitches to hit,” Hardy said.

Hardy went 3-for-4 with four RBIs to raise his average to .446 over the last 18 games. He has been on a tear since taking six days off with an aching shoulder last month. Saturday night, he gave up his 16-game hitting streak by laying down a sacrifice bunt in the ninth that eventually helped score the winning run.

“He’s hitting for power, he’s hitting doubles, he’s hitting singles, he’s clutch hitting. He’s just hitting everything,” Brewers manager Ned Yost said. “I don’t know how much better it gets than it is right now for any player, to be honest with you.”

Hardy kept swinging away Sunday, hitting a two-run homer in the first and adding a two-run shot in the fourth for his second two-homer game in the last six days.

“He’s carried us, he’s been phenomenal,” Braun said. “When a guy gets as hot as he is right now, it’s just fun to watch.”

Milwaukee tied franchise records with nine doubles and 12 extra-base hits to finish its fifth series sweep, all at home. The Brewers (49-39) improved to 10 games over .500 for the first time this season and are percentage points ahead of St. Louis (50-40) in the NL Central. Both teams are chasing Chicago.

“We feel like we’re rolling on all cylinders,” said Bill Hall, who had three RBIs. “We’re hitting the ball all over the place.”

Hardy’s second shot put Milwaukee up for good 8-6 after the Brewers squandered a 4-0 lead. Milwaukee added another run off Pirates reliever Denny Bautista (1-1) on an RBI double by Corey Hart that scored Braun, named to his first All-Star game Sunday, and reliever Sean Burnett gave up an RBI double to Hall to make it 10-6.

Brewers reliever Mitch Stetter (2-1) earned the win with two scoreless innings.

Neither starter made it past the third inning. With the Pirates up 6-4, Zach Duke gave up RBI doubles to Hart and Hall in the third to make it 6-all and was chased when Jason Kendall singled to put runners on the corners with one out.

“It just really snowballed,” Pirates manager John Russell said. “They were swinging the bats real well and we just couldn’t hold them.”

Pittsburgh scored six straight runs to erase a 4-0 deficit. Jason Bay led off the second with a 443-foot solo homer and the Pirates tied the game when All-Star Nate McLouth drove in three with a two-out double, the final of three straight hits.