Weeks, Hardy, Braun homer to open game for Brewers in win

Brewers 10, Reds 5

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Watching his Brewers hit three home runs to open their game against Cincinnati on Sunday left Milwaukee manager Ned Yost a little nervous.

"It was nice, but you know the balls are flying out of here," Yost said.

They certainly were.

After Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun connected off Phil Dumatrait, becoming only the third team in major league history to open a game with three straight home runs, Milwaukee added three more homers in a 10-5 victory over the Reds.

"That was pretty cool," Braun said. "I was never part of something like that before."

Weeks and Braun each hit another homer and J.J. Hardy added two doubles -- all in the first four innings -- to give Milwaukee sole possession of first place in the NL Central. The Brewers began the day tied for the lead with the Chicago Cubs, who lost 10-5 at Pittsburgh.

Johnny Estrada also homered to give Milwaukee six in a game for the first time since April 29, 2006, in a 16-2 win over the Cubs at Chicago.

"It was fun today," Weeks said. "It was good to set the tone today. I hope I can keep doing that."

Weeks sent a 2-1 pitch into the Reds' bullpen in left-center field, his second leadoff homer this season and fifth of his career.

Hardy followed two pitches later with a drive into the Brewers' bullpen down the right-field line, stopping an 0-for-12 slide with his first homer since Aug. 19.

Braun hit Dumatrait's ninth pitch over the fence in center. Braun also homered in the second for a 7-1 lead, giving him 30 homers this season. The previous Brewers' rookie record was 28, set by Prince Fielder last year.

"I've never seen that before -- not to lead off a game," Cincinnati catcher Javier Valentin said. "They were all fastballs. He got behind in the count."

San Diego's Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk became the first trio to open a game with consecutive home runs on April 13, 1987, off Roger Mason in a 13-6 loss to San Francisco at San Diego. Atlanta's Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield hit consecutive home runs off the Reds' Jeff Austin to start a 15-3 win at Cincinnati on May 28, 2003.

The Brewers had not hit three consecutive home runs since Sept. 12, 1982, when Cecil Cooper, Ted Simmons and Ben Oglivie accomplished the feat in a 9-8 loss at the New York Yankees.

Weeks homered to lead off the fourth for the second two-homer game of his career. He also hit two on Aug. 12, 2005, in a 5-3 win at Cincinnati.

The top three batters in Milwaukee's order combined for 24 total bases in the first four innings.

Ben Sheets improved to 2-0 in three starts since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 28. Sheets (12-4) allowed five runs and six hits with six strikeouts and three walks in six innings.

"A great job by the offense today," said Sheets, who was out for more than six weeks with a sprained right middle finger. "I felt all right -- good enough. I got a little tired. I'm still getting my legs back."

Dumatrait (0-4) faced five batters, allowing five hits and four runs before being pulled by manager Pete Mackanin.

"Phil just didn't have any command on his pitches, and the Brewers let him know about it," Mackanin said. "That might be my quickest hook ever."

Ken Griffey Jr. drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first, and Ryan Hanigan scored on Sheets' wild pitch in the fifth before Edwin Encarnacion launched a three-run homer to center field in the sixth.

Estrada gave Milwaukee a 10-5 lead in the eighth with his ninth homer of the season and first in 143 at-bats since July 7 at Washington.

Game notes

The Brewers activated RHP Claudio Vargas from the 15-day disabled list. Vargas had been on the disabled list since Aug. 25 with a strained lower back. He is 10-4 with a 5.13 ERA in 25 games, including 23 starts. ... The Reds activated IF Pedro Lopez from the 15-day disabled list. Lopez had been on the disabled list since July 26 after his left cheekbone was fractured when he was hit by a pitch from Milwaukee RHP Matt Wise a day earlier. Lopez hit .184 in 11 games before his injury. ... Hanigan doubled down the left-field line in the fifth inning for a hit in his first major league at-bat.