CINCINNATI (AP) -The Milwaukee Brewers became on the third team in major league history to open a game with three straight home runs when Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun connected Sunday off Cincinnati’s Phil Dumatrait.
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.
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 of 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 of 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.
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