Brewers stave off elimination against Phillies

The Milwaukee Brewers will live to fight another day.

The Brewers staved off elimination following a convincing 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the National League Division series Saturday in Milwaukee.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy led the offensive attack for the Brewers, collecting three hits and adding an RBI. Starter Dave Bush earned Milwaukee' first victory of the post-season, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and only one walk.

"Tonight was big for us," Hardy said. "I think we're going to be able to relax a little bit more and come out and play early tomorrow."

The Brewers, who are making their first playoff appearance in 26 years, forced a Game 4 of the best-of-five series on Sunday (1:05 p.m. ET). Jeff Suppan will start for Milwaukee, while Joe Blanton is expected to take mound for Philadelphia.

"It was good to really create some pressure for them," Brewers outfielder Mike Cameron said. "We haven't played well the first two games, but today it was all about the energy. We were able to feed off of it and get out early and put a little pressure on their team."

Only seven teams in baseball history have come back from an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series, but the 1982 Brewers were one of them.

Interim manager Dale Sveum said the victory gave the Brewers confidence — and seemed pretty confident himself that the series was going the full five games.

"Hopefully, it pays off for the next two ballgames," Sveum said.

Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun each had a sacrifice fly for Milwaukee, while Hardy and Jason Kendall added RBI singles. Although it wasn't easy, reliever Salomon Torres held on for the save despite loading the bases in the ninth.

With no outs, Pedro Feliz hit a double-play grounder to Hardy which should have scored Ryan Howard from third.

However, Shane Victorino, who smacked a grand slam off Sabathia in Game 2, was called for interference when he opted not to slide into second. The runners were ordered to return to second and third and Carlos Ruiz's comebacker to Torres ended the game.

The Brewers improved their offensive output in Game 3 after managing just three runs and seven hits in Philadelphia's first two victories.

Cameron and Bill Hall earned walks with no outs in the first inning against Phillies starter Jamie Moyer. The runners advanced one base on Moyer's wild pitch before Fielder's sacrifice fly to right scored Cameron.

Hardy followed up with an RBI single to give Milwaukee a 2-0 lead. Braun made it 3-0 in the fifth when his sacrifice fly brought home Cameron.

"As the crowd gets louder, he throws softer," Hall said of Moyer. "We were trying to be patient and if he was going to walk us, we were going to take it. He is not going to throw many pitches over the plate. He wants you to get yourself out. We were patient early and that set the tone."

Bush left with the game with one out and a runner on third in the sixth. Reliever Mitch Stetter induced Howard into a groundout, but Victorino scored on the play.

Milwaukee catcher Jason Kendall closed out the scoring with an RBI single in the seventh.

Rickie Weeks's injured-filled season continued at the worst time with his early exit from Saturday's game.

The second baseman was forced to leave after the third inning with a sprained knee sustained when he appeared to jam his knee while batting in the previous frame.

Weeks left the field at Miller Park in Milwaukee limping, but came out to play defence in the top of the third.

However, he didn't bat in the bottom half, and was replaced by Craig Counsell when the Brewers took the field for the fourth inning.