PHOENIX (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt doesn't want to be thought of as a second-half player, only a consistent one.
Betancourt homered twice — including one of Milwaukee's three home runs in the first inning — and the Brewers routed the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-3 on Tuesday night.
In five games since the All-Star break, Betancourt is 6 for 15 with three extra-base hits. His ninth-inning home run gave him his first career two-homer game.
"In the second half I've done really good the last two years," Betancourt said through an interpreter. "Hopefully I can be really consistent the last two months."
Ryan Braun returned to the Milwaukee lineup and homered in the first along with Betancourt and Corey Hart.
Braun, back in the lineup after missing 10 of Milwaukee's past 13 games with nagging left calf and hamstring injuries, played the first 4½ innings and finished 1 for 3.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said before the game he would work to ease Braun back into the everyday lineup.
"There's not that many great hitters in the game," Roenicke said. "There's certainly a lot of good hitters but he's clearly one of the great ones."
Rickie Weeks also homered for the Brewers, who won for the third time in four games to remain one game behind first-place Pittsburgh in the NL Central.
"Today's one of those days when everything worked out," Hart said. "Hopefully it can show us we can do this on the road."
Yovani Gallardo (11-6) allowed three runs — one earned — and four hits over six innings with a walk and six strikeouts.
"The guys came out swinging the bats," said Gallardo, who went to the plate before he took the mound for the first time. "You can't lose focus too much because they got two runs right back. It was still early in the game."
Brandon Allen hit a towering home run into the second-deck luxury suites for the Diamondbacks, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped.
Barry Enright (1-4), who was called from Triple-A Reno earlier Tuesday following the release of right-hander Aaron Heilman, matched a franchise record for homers in an inning when he surrendered the three.
"You guys are just sitting there licking your chops right now because we had a bad game," Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. "We had three good games. The game just got over. Obviously it is not as good an effort that he wanted to have or we expected.
"We are not going to compare it to the way it was before (he was sent to the minors.) That is not how we operate. That is not how the mind operates. He had a bad game tonight. He didn't throw some quality pitches. He left a cement mixer over the plate, they pounded it. He left three fastballs over the plate, they pounded it. There is nothing more to say about it right now. We don't have a formula, we are not thinking, 'What I am going to do next?' We will absorb it. We will move on."
Hart hit the game's fifth pitch into the stands in left field for his third career leadoff home run. After Nyjer Morgan singled to left, Braun homered to left to make it 3-0.
Enright managed two quick outs before Casey McGehee singled to center and Betancourt homered just over the Diamondbacks' bullpen in left for a 5-0 lead.
Weeks' shot to deep left-center in the third put the Brewers ahead 6-2.
Enright lasted three innings, matching the shortest start of his two-year career, and allowed six runs and seven hits with two strikeouts.
"I was throwing pretty well down there (at Triple-A Reno)," Enright said. "I kind of had everything going for the last month and a half. It is very cliche but it was one of those games, very disappointing. I disappointed these guys, I disappointed myself and have a loss for this team who has been playing great."
Allen's home run pulled the Diamondbacks within 6-3. But Milwaukee turned two hits, three walks and a hit batter into three runs against three pitchers in the sixth to open a 9-3 lead.
NOTES: Weeks' home run traveled an estimated 451 feet, according to ESPN Stats services. Allen's was slightly longer according to ESPN Stats services at 455 feet. Hart's leadoff homer was his first since July 16, 2007, also against the Diamondbacks. The Brewers' three-homer inning was their first since May 14, 2010, against Philadelphia. It marked the first time Arizona pitchers allowed three in an inning since Dan Haren gave up three on May 27, 2010, at Colorado. Enright gave up five runs and seven hits, including four home runs, in three innings on Sept. 13, 2010, at Cincinnati. Milwaukee IF Craig Counsell grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and is hitless in his last 33 at-bats, the longest streak by a Brewers position player since he went 0 for 34 in 2004.
Ryan Braun returned to the Milwaukee lineup and hit the second of the Brewers' three first-inning home runs in an 11-3 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.
Corey Hart and Yuniesky Betancourt also homered in the first inning for Milwaukee, which won for the third time in four games to remain one game behind first-place Pittsburgh in the NL Central.
Betancourt added a two-run homer in the ninth for his first career two-homer game and Rickie Weeks had a solo shot in the third.
Yovani Gallardo (11-6) allowed three runs — one earned — and four hits over six innings with a walk and six strikeouts.
Braun, back in the lineup after missing 10 of Milwaukee's past 13 games with nagging left calf and hamstring injuries, played the first 4½ innings and finished 1 for 3.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said before the game he would work to ease Braun back into the everyday lineup.
Brandon Allen hit a towering home run into the second-deck luxury suites for the Diamondbacks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Barry Enright (1-4), who was called from Triple-A Reno earlier Tuesday following the release of right-hander Aaron Heilman, matched a franchise record for homers in an inning when he surrendered the three.
Hart hit the game's fifth pitch into the stands in left field for his third career leadoff home run. After Nyjer Morgan singled to left, Braun homered to left to make it 3-0.
Enright managed two quick outs before Casey McGehee singled to center and Betancourt homered just over the Diamondbacks' bullpen in left for a 5-0 lead.
Weeks' shot to deep left-center in the third put the Brewers ahead 6-2.
Enright lasted three innings, matching the shortest start of his two-year career, and allowed six runs and seven hits with two strikeouts.
Allen's home run pulled the Diamondbacks within 6-3. But Milwaukee turned two hits, three walks and a hit batter into three runs against three pitchers in the sixth to open a 9-3 lead.
NOTES: Weeks' home run traveled an estimated 451 feet, according to ESPN Stats services. Allen's was slightly longer according to ESPN Stats services at 455 feet. Hart's leadoff homer was his first since July 16, 2007, also against the Diamondbacks. The Brewers' three-homer inning was their first since May 14, 2010, against Philadelphia. It marked the first time Arizona pitchers allowed three in an inning since Dan Haren gave up three on May 27, 2010, at Colorado. Enright gave up five runs and seven hits, including four home runs, in three innings on Sept. 13, 2010, at Cincinnati.
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