Friday night was a night like any other during the Brewers' last week and a half: runners left on base, a short stint by the starting pitcher and an offense that couldn't rally behind a stingy bullpen.

The only difference between Friday night's game and the six previous was the Brewers somehow found a way to get the job done in the end, coming back in the ninth to beat NL Central leader St. Louis, 4-3, and snapping a six-game losing streak.

While the two-out, ninth-inning rally provided a breath of relief for the Brewers, it was made possible by two players who have had more than their fare share of struggles this season; shortstop J.J. Hardy and second baseman Rickie Weeks.

It was Hardy that started the comeback; following a pair of first-pitch outs with a single to center. He advanced to second on a pinch-hit single by Gabe Kapler and went to third on Jason Kendall's walk, setting the stage for Weeks, who belted an 0-1 slider from St. Louis closer Jason Isringhausen for the game-winner.

"That was a huge hit," Yost said. "It was a huge hit by J.J. with two outs; it was a huge hit by Kapler to keep it going. It was a great walk by Kendall. There were a lot of good things that happened there with two outs in the last inning."

While his teammates were happy to put an end to the streak and pick up a game on the Cardinals, they were even happier that the winning hit came from Weeks, who was hitting .188 coming into the game.

"I'm really happy for Rickie," Kapler said. "He's got a tough job; getting on base consistently is a really tough job. He's gotten some big hits for us, but tonight's hit has got to be special for him.

"I think guys in this clubhouse are as excited for Rickie as they are for winning the game. My elation came from Rickie's success tonight."

Starter Manny Parra may have saved his job in the rotation.
His second inning was so bad (two walks, two hits and a hit batter) that Yost called for Seth McClung to start warming up in the Brewers bullpen.

He recovered and went on to retire 12 of the next 13 batters and his last nine before being pulled for pinch-hitter Tony Gwynn in the sixth. Like the rest of his teammates, he looked at the game as a fresh start.

"Having the chances we had, it could have been demoralizing," Parra said. "We turned it into a huge positive. We kept battling.

"That says a lot about our team."

The rally was made possible by another solid performance by the Brewers' relief corps. After Parra was taken out following the fifth inning, David Riske, Solomon Torres and Brian Shouse combined to throw four scoreless innings, extending the bullpen's streak to 12 straight innings without allowing a run.

"They've been awesome," Yost said of his bullpen, which now has an ERA of 1.67 in its last eight games.

With the streak over, the Brewers are focused on getting back on track. A series victory over the Cardinals could put them right back in the race for the Central Division.

"I think this is a wake-up call for the team," Weeks said. "We just have to relax and keep swinging the bats, playing defense and pitching well."

Yost, who spent nearly 45 minutes with reporters before the game defending his decision to not blow up the lineup and shuffle his rotation, looked at the game as proof that things were bound to turn around.

"We had a hard road trip," Yost said. "It was a big win. To come back the way we did, they kept pushing without much luck through the whole nine innings, they got two outs with nobody on and just refused to quit."