ATLANTA -- Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has been waiting for his offence to wake up. Its too soon to declare that Atlantas bats have returned to respectability, but at least the Braves are taking the necessary steps. Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton homered to help Mike Minor win his second consecutive start, and Atlanta beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-3 Monday night. "We started swinging the bats really, really well," Gonzalez said. "Not only the home runs, but there were some two-out singles, there were some base on balls, there was a lot of baserunning. It was nice to see." Pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit also went deep for Atlanta in a matchup of first-place teams. The Braves, who had lost 12 of 18, never trailed in winning their second straight game. Atlanta began the night with the fewest runs in the majors. But the Braves banged out a season-high 15 hits and improved to 18-5 when hitting a home run. Minor (2-2) gave up two runs and five hits with five strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings. The left-hander, lifted with a 4-2 lead, appreciated the run support. "Were still in first place, and everybodys talking about how bad we were playing," Minor said. "It was good to have that cushion when we won a lot of games, but we have too good of players to be worried about it." Ryan Braun and Khris Davis homered for the Brewers, who have lost three straight. Braun also threw out a runner at the plate from right field. Wily Peralta (4-3) allowed nine hits, a season-high four walks and three runs -- two earned -- with five strikeouts in five innings. The right-hander began the night 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in three starts this month, but he couldnt overcome poor command of his pitches. "Thats the first time, but thats going to happen during the season," Peralta said. "You try to do your best and keep the team in the ballgame." Freeman led off the third with his ninth homer to make it 3-0. Davis lost his glove over the left-field fence on Freemans opposite-field shot. A fan picked up the glove off a ledge between the fence and the seats and tossed it back to Davis after Freeman rounded the bases. The Braves broke open a one-run game in the eighth, scoring five times off reliever Wei-Chung Wang to make it 9-3. Doumit hit a solo shot, Uptons 11th homer was a two-run drive, and Atlanta got RBI singles from Andrelton Simmons and Ramiro Pena. After Wang needed 40 pitches to get two outs, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke brought in first baseman Lyle Overbay off the bench to pitch. The 37-year-old Overbay pitched for the first time in his 14-year major league career, retiring Doumit on a popup. Doumit, who was teammates with Overbay in Pittsburgh, got a good laugh out of the at-bat. "That kids got nasty stuff," Doumit said with a smile. "Hes got a bright future ahead of him. Im going to keep my eye on him." Zach Duke, who relieved Peralta to begin the sixth, gave up a leadoff single to Minor and a single to Jason Heyward before Upton reached safely when catcher Martin Maldonado was called for interference. Rob Wooten relieved with one out and gave up Evan Gattis sacrifice fly that made it 4-2. David Hale relieved Minor with a runner at second base and ended the threat when Carlos Gomez grounded out. Brauns seventh homer, an opposite-field shot to right off David Carpenter, cut the margin to 4-3 in the eighth. Atlanta took a 1-0 lead in the first when Heyward led off with a single, stole second and scored on Maldonados passed ball and throwing error to third. The Braves went ahead 2-0 in the second on Penas RBI single. Davis fifth homer, a two-run shot in the fifth, cut it to 3-2. NOTES: The Braves have won 10 of their last 12 against Milwaukee at Turner Field. ... Gomez went 1 for 3 in his first game since last Tuesday. He served a three-game suspension last week for his role in a bench-clearing dustup April 20 at Pittsburgh and missed two weekend games at the Chicago Cubs with back stiffness and a stomach virus. ... Heyward, who began the game hitting .186 in his last 43 at-bats, went 3 for 4 with two stolen bases. ... Brauns outfield assist ended the Atlanta fourth as Heyward, trying to score from second on Freemans single to right, was tagged out at the plate. Adidas NMD Mens Sale . The lightning strike was in the parking lot of Crew Stadium on Saturday night, but its not known if the off-duty lieutenant was struck directly, Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said. The firefighter, identified as Lt. Adidas NMD Wolf Grey . Vinci also beat Dulgheru last week in Bucharest en route to her first WTA final in a year. Vinci next faces sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan, who beat Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-2. No. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/authentic-...k-unisex.html.J. -- The New York Jets have promoted Tony Sparano Jr. Adidas NMD R1 China . - The Detroit Lions have placed tight end Brandon Pettigrew on injured reserve, ending his season. Adidas NMD Womens Clearance . The Cottagers last victory came in a 2-1 home win over West Ham when Rene Meulensteen was still in charge. Since then, a miserable run of seven defeats and two draws has seen the club part with the Dutch coach and replace him with German Felix Magath.TSNs Jack Armstrong offers his thoughts on the impressive run of the Phoenix Suns, the absence of Patrick Patterson in the Toronto Raptors lineup, and the upcoming mayhem of NCAA March Madness. 1. PHOENIX SUNS: Second time this year Ive seen them in person and watched them countless other times on TV. Quite impressed with this squad. Ten games over .500 in the brutal Western Conference. Who would have thought that in the Fall? Heres the amazing thing - theyve got a very favourable salary cap situation as well as three first-round picks and a second-round selection in this years deep draft. Long term it really puts them in a nice situation bringing players into a winning and competitive environment internally where talented young picks will have to earn their minutes rather than having them handed to them as it happens on lousy teams. Good for the growth of the franchise. 2. PATRICK PATTERSON (Raptors): Even though his team is 3-2 without him and lost both games by less than 10 points, you can clearly see that they miss him big-time. His ability to shoot the three, rebound, defend on the perimeter and in the post and overall smart play is really missed. TThe second unit was absolutely dominated yesterday by the Suns and when youre missing one of your main focal points of your second unit youll get exposed some days.dddddddddddd Yesterday was one of them. 3. CANADIANS IN THE NCAAS: Theyll be a bunch of them to watch and well have it covered on TSN starting on Thursday. Really cool to see some of the elite teams having young Canadian players who have vital roles. The game keeps growing and the stories get better. 4. NCAA FINAL FOUR & CHAMPS: My Picks for the Final Four are: Florida, Duke, Oklahoma and Virginia. My Pick for the champs is: Florida. 5. A FEW NCAA LOWER SEEDS THAT CAN WIN A 1ST ROUND GAME : Harvard, St. Josephs, Providence, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Arizona State. Always fun to see who will be this years Cinderella which makes the tournament really special. Have fun and enjoy the games! I cant wait! ' ' '