The Brewers scored no runs after the sixth inning in any of those games. In fact, they scored just one run after the fifth inning -- and that came without a hit in the sixth inning Monday against Arizona on a hit batsman and three walks.

Though that run was forced in by reliever Chad Qualls' bases-loaded walk, it was charged to Arizona starter Doug Davis. The Brewers had not scored a run off a relief pitcher since the seventh inning on June 22 against Baltimore, a span of 22 1/3 innings.

That streak came to an end Tuesday when the Brewers scored a seventh-inning run off Arizona reliever Connor Robertson.

"I think that's more coincidence than anything else," manager Ned Yost said. "It's not like we get together and say, 'Let's only score off starting pitchers.'"

That trend goes back much further than this trip, however. Last season, when the Brewers lost 15 games in which they led by at least three runs, part of the problem was the inability to produce "tack-on" runs.

"It has no explanation, and, really, not much bearing on anything, as far as I'm concerned," Yost said. "I'm saying it's not a big deal. It goes in cycles. Everything goes in cycles. This just happens to be the flavor of the week. That doesn't bother me."

BREWERS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 6: On a night in which they scored eight runs, the Brewers probably won the game on defense. 3B Bill Hall made a couple of sensational plays, and substitute 1B Mike Rivera might have saved the game with an unassisted double play in the eighth. SS J.J. Hardy, always a solid defender, did his work at the plate with two homers off Randy Johnson. The Brewers broke out to a 7-1 lead but starter Jeff Suppan had another shaky outing (five innings, nine hits, five runs) to allow the Diamondbacks to crawl back in the game. That's why the defense became so important before the night was done.