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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 11:32 a.m., Friday, April 4, 2008

Baseball: Brewers blast Giants in home opener

By CHRIS JENKINS
AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE — Bill Hall homered twice and had a career-high six RBIs, leading Milwaukee to a 13-4 rout of the San Francisco Giants today in the Brewers' home opener.

It was the third career two-homer game for Hall, who didn't hit a home run during spring training.

Prince Fielder went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs, and Gabe Kapler drove in a pair of runs. The Brewers have won three of their first four games after taking two out of three from Chicago in their season-opening series at Wrigley Field.

Carlos Villanueva (1-0) tied a career high with six strikeouts, going 5 1-3 innings. He held the Giants scoreless until the sixth, when he gave up two runs and Brian Shouse relieved. Salomon Torres pitched three innings for his first save.

San Francisco starter Jonathan Sanchez (0-1) set a career high with eight strikeouts. But it wasn't much of a day otherwise for Sanchez, who gave up seven runs in four-plus innings. In two career starts at Miller Park, Sanchez has given up a total of 15 earned runs in six innings.

The Giants, in their first season following the forced departure of Barry Bonds, have lost three of their first four games.

Fielder's RBI single and Hall's homer put Milwaukee ahead 3-0 in the first. Kapler, who returned to baseball after he retired and spent last season as a manager in Boston's minor league system, had an RBI single in the fifth. Fielder followed that up with an run-scoring single of his own.

One out later, Hall crushed his second homer of the game near the base of the steel tower where Milwaukee mascot "Bernie Brewer" glides down a slide to celebrate home runs.

Hall acknowledged the crowd with a curtain call — then added an RBI single in the following inning as the Brewers put up another five runs.