Milwaukee Brewers are ready for a dif

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers are ready for a difficult weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Avalanche Jerseys 2020 . Especially after a successful performance in the opener of the series between division leaders. Rickie Weeks hit a three-run homer and Gerardo Parra had two hits and two RBIs to lead Milwaukee to a 9-3 victory over Los Angeles on Friday night. "We know the pitching that we are going to face the next couple of nights," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "So, it was important to win this game." The Dodgers major league-best road record slipped to 36-24, but they will send Zack Greinke to the mound Saturday night and Clayton Kershaw on Sunday. Roenicke said that Brewers simply didnt quit, especially after falling behind and not having much success against Roberto Hernandez in his Dodgers debut. "Not only do we come back and tie it, and then get the lead, and then all of a sudden we get the big homer from Rickie," Roenicke said. "That opens it up." NL West-leading Los Angeles scored two runs in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead, but Milwaukee capitalized on two errors by reserve shortstop Justin Turner and scored four runs in the bottom half of the inning. "Actually, it was a pretty good game there until the seventh," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Then, we just defensively let our pitching down really. Really, it was our defence in general that let it down." Martin Maldonado tied it at 3 with a squeeze bunt that scored Weeks. He bunted the ball toward Brandon League (2-3), who tried to flip it with his glove to catcher Drew Butera, but was late. Pinch-hitter Khris Davis reached on Turners first error to load the bases. Carlos Gomez then reached on Turners throwing error that allowed Mark Reynolds to score. Parra followed with a two-run single that gave Milwaukee a 6-3 lead. "Unfortunate," Mattingly said of the fielding miscues. "Brandon comes in, really gets ground balls is what hes trying to do, what we asked him to do, and we just dont get what we want." Adrian Gonzalez homered in the sixth for the Dodgers, and then had a tying RBI single in the seventh. Andre Ethiers RBI single later that inning gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez left the game in the first inning with tightness in his right side and was replaced by Miguel Rojas. Ramirez said he hurt himself in the batting cage before the game. During his at-bat in the first, Mattingly didnt like how Ramirez reacted and took him out. "One swing, it just tightened up on me," Ramirez said. "What he (Mattingly) did is smart. He dont want to make it worse." Turner pinch-hit in the seventh and then took over at shortstop in the bottom of the inning. Hernandez was traded by Philadelphia to the Dodgers on Thursday for two players to be named or cash considerations. He allowed two runs and three hits in six innings, throwing just 65 pitches. Jeremy Jeffress (1-1) picked up the win in relief. NL Central-leading Milwaukee went ahead 2-0 in the first inning on Aramis Ramirezs run-scoring single and Scooter Gennetts sacrifice fly. TRAINERS ROOM Dodgers: Ramirez walked on a 3-2 pitch from Kyle Lohse, and then didnt come out for the Brewers half of the inning. He is listed as day to day. ... Right-hander Josh Beckett (6-6, 2.88 ERA) went on the 15-day disabled list for the third time this season. He has a left hip impingement and is expected to be out 10 days to two weeks. Brewers: Catcher Jonathan Lucroy was held out in a precautionary move. He has a hamstring issue aggravated by running the bases in Thursdays game with San Francisco. UP NEXT Dodgers: Greinke (12-7, 2.71 ERA) starts the second game of the weekend series. He faces his former team for the first time this season. Brewers: Right-hander Mike Fiers (0-1, 2.57 ERA) will be recalled from Triple-A Nashville before Saturdays game and make his first start with the Brewers this season. Hes filling in for right-hander Matt Garza (left oblique strain), who is on the 15-day disabled list. SEE YA LATER The Dodgers and Brewers play six of their next 10 against each other in successive weekend series. Milwaukee travels to Los Angeles next Friday. MAKING A MOVE Milwaukee sent reliever Rob Wooten to Triple-A Nashville to make room for Fiers. Wholesale Avalanche Jerseys . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov. Colorado Avalanche Pro Shop .Y. -- Kristen Gillman rallied to win the U.Over the past two seasons, the B.C. Lions have had good teams that havent won a playoff game. And because of that those good teams are not remembered as exceptional, just non-producing playoff teams. This is a high pressure year in Lions football because of that fact. You can justify losing once, especially coming off a Grey Cup winning year, but losing twice transitions your team into re-evaluation and, sometimes, over-evaluation. Losing three times tends to lead to a more dramatic change. But can you build a team in May and June for success in October and November? Part of me thinks yes, if you have exceptional depth and a quarterback who performs at his best when the pressure is highest - playoff football. Also, a nice balance of veterans and youth helps on your roster. Veteran guys know and have the ability to rise to a challenge, a playoff game, because they know how to raise urgency both individually and collectively. My argument that you cant develop a playoff capable team early relates to how teams change as the season progresses. Injuries are the single biggest factor. If you lose a lot of players over a season it is difficult to find new performers to play as well as their predecessors. Or if you lose key players, a quarterback, a top defensive back, your best receiver, that individual may not be able to be replaced without a drop-off in production. When it comes to training camp and the regular season, all you can do is demand and hope for progressive and consistent improvement so come playoff time, you are at your best and competing against yourself. Last year BC was good on defence but needed to improve on offence. They finished with the third-ranked rrushing offence, averaging 107 yards per game, but only seventh in passing with 244 yards per game. Cheap Avalanche Jerseys. . On the other side of the ball there was a clear contradiction. They allowed the fewest passing yards but were at the league bottom in red zone defence. It was tough to move the ball against the Lions between the 20s, yet easier from the 20-yard line in. The vast majority of the time the opposite is true: the closer to the goal line, the tougher to advance because the defence has less space to defend. An unusual contradiction. Still, when you study last season and notice that BC was seventh in kickoff returns and eighth in punt returns, you see just what may be the priority for improvement may not be anything with or without the ball. Where you start drives and the length of field you have to overcome determines success in a season as much as any other aspect of football. As always, the Lions strength will be personnel change at just the right time. More youth on the offensive line and more experience at quarterback will prove beneficial at key moments of the season. Travis Lulay will be ready to go but that is not the concern. It is whether he will be ready for 18 games as his shoulder will be tested at some point in the season. In what may turn out to be the smartest move in the draft, acquiring Kevin Glenn as a veteran alternative is a nice luxury that only half the league has.The Lions will win their fair share of games, maybe even more than what is fair. The question will be whether they can break the “one and done” streak in the playoffs. You cant really prepare for it until the week of. And that week is months away.  ' ' '