May 6, 2007 2 min read

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Jeff Suppan won his fifth straight start, J.J. Hardy hit a three-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the sloppy Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3 on Saturday night. At 20-10, the Brewers have the best record in the National League and are 10 games over .500 for the first time since 1998.

Suppan (5-2), the Brewers’ prized free agent acquisition in the offseason, lost his first two starts after signing a four-year, $42 million contract. Since then, he’s 5-0 with a 2.06 ERA in five starts.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh (13-16) is fading quickly after a promising start and couldn’t do much of anything right Saturday, committing two errors and getting caught twice in rundowns between third and home in the sixth inning.

Trailing 3-0, first baseman Adam LaRoche singled home a run to start the wild sixth. He then made two critical baserunning errors that cost the Pirates, starting when Ryan Doumit hit a sharp grounder off Suppan’s right leg.

The ball nearly rolled into the Brewers dugout, but first baseman Prince Fielder grabbed it and caught LaRoche leaning off second base.

Jason Bay then broke from third to home in an effort to help LaRoche and got caught in a rundown. He was tagged out by catcher Damian Miller.

LaRoche advanced to third on the play. He was retired in a rundown of his own on the next play off a chopper.