Vargas can't keep Bucs down

Live by the sword...die by the sword. Milwaukee's offense spotted starter Claudio Vargas a 3-run lead right off the bat (pun intended), as Corey Hart and Craig Counsell led off the game by getting on base, and then scoring on Ryan Braun's 3-run homer off of Pirates' starter Ian Snell. While Snell shutdown the offense the rest of the way, the Pirates mimicked Braun--first right-fielder Ryan Doumit smacked a 2-run shot in the 4th, followed by Adam LaRoche's 2-run shot in the 6th--and the Pirates took game three 5-3. Snell lasted 8, allowed 3 ER over 8, to raise his ERA to 2.93, and his record to 7-5. Vargas finished 6, all five runs were earned, and raised his ERA to 4.52, while moving to 6-2. Braun, Fielder, Estrada, and Gross all had a multi-hit game. The Cubs lost, too, so the Crew remains 5 up in the loss column, while the Magic Number is now down to 74. The Brewers send their ace, Ben Sheets (10-3, 3.19), in the finale against Tom Gorzelanny (8-4, 3.05), to try and even this series at two apiece.