The Milwaukee Brewers have wheels.
On the basepaths, and in the standings, too.
Ryan Braun hit two hits, drove in a run and collected three of Milwaukee's seven stolen bases in a 6-0 romp over the weary Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
"I think people have always perceived us as a team that relies on the home run," Braun said.
"Well, we really don't. We're pretty good at running the bases."
Then again, just about everybody is against the Pirates.
Pittsburgh entered the night throwing out less than 10 per cent of attempted base stealers on the season, by far the lowest in the majors. The number only got worse as the Brewers went seven-for-seven to post their highest single game steals total since moving to the National League in 1998.
"We've got a lot of guys who can steal bases, and if you rely on the homer, you really get yourself in trouble, so you try to find a way to manufacture runs sometimes, too," Braun said.
Not that streaking Yovani Gallardo (16-8) requires much in the way of run support these days.
The right-hander gave up two hits over 6 2 /3 innings to win his eighth straight decision. Milwaukee moved in front of fading Pittsburgh in the jumbled National League wild-card race and remained 2 1 /2 games back of St. Louis for the second wild-card spot.
"Yo's on a roll that he goes out there and he throws up a lot of zeroes," said Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke.
Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy had three hits apiece for the Brewers, who trailed the Pirates by nine games during their last visit to PNC Park but are peaking heading into the final two weeks of the season.
"We just continued to believe, continued to stay positive," Braun said. "I think with the second wild card, it gives everybody hope."
A.J. Burnett (15-8) gave up two runs in six innings but couldn't stop Pittsburgh's late season swoon. The Pirates are 4-12 this month.
"He really wrestled out there," said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle. "He gave it everything he had."
Even if it wasn't enough for Burnett to become the first Pirates pitcher to win 16 games in 20 years. He shook off trouble in the first two innings - when he needed 51 pitches to get six outs while giving up a run - to pitch into the sixth for his 25th straight start.
Pittsburgh took the field less than 24 hours removed from a long night in Chicago, where the Pirates waited out a rain delay of more than three hours before scratching out a 3-0 victory over the Cubs. The team didn't get into Pittsburgh until 5: 40 a.m., and Hurdle let his players arrive later than usual to the ballpark on Tuesday. The extra rest didn't help.
TIGERS 12, ATHLETICS 2
DETROIT - The Oakland Athletics may have only one more big hurdle to clear before securing a surprising playoff berth.
Their final trip of the regular season - 10 games against Detroit, the New York Yankees and Texas - began Tuesday night in ugly fashion.
Miguel Cabrera homered twice, including an eighthinning grand slam, and the Tigers had no trouble overcoming an early injury to right-hander Max Scherzer in a 12-2 rout of the Athletics. Oakland came in three games behind first-place Texas in the AL West, but leading the wild-card race.
"Just got out of hand," manager Bob Melvin said. "We've just got to move on. Just one game."
Cabrera matched a career high with six RBIs and now has 40 homers this season - also a career best. Prince Fielder and Jhonny Peralta added home runs for the Tigers, who remained three games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
