Brewers top Cards, close gap on Cubs

~Milwaukee moved within two games of Chicago with a 9-1 victory over St. Louis.

MILWAUKEE -- Prince Fielder became the youngest major league player ever to hit 50 home runs in a season, connecting twice in the Milwaukee Brewers' 9-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

The win pulled the Brewers to within two games of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, who lost at Florida 4-2 on Tuesday night. With five games remaining for each team, the Cubs' magic number remained stuck at four.

The Milwaukee crowd cheered when the final score of the Cubs-Marlins game was posted on the scoreboard at Miller Park. The Brewers still face an uphill climb to unseat the Cubs in the final week of the season, but at least they're making it interesting.

And their 23-year-old slugger is leading the charge.

Fielder joined his father Cecil as the only father-son tandem to hit 50 home runs in a season. The elder Fielder hit 51 with the Detroit Tigers in 1990.

It was the eighth multihomer game of the younger Fielder's career, and the fifth this season. He also homered in the Brewers' victory Monday night.

Rickie Weeks led off the Brewers' half of the first with a home run. After a strikeout by J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun reached base on a bobbled ball by third baseman Scott Spiezio that initially was ruled an error but later was changed to a base hit.

Fielder then got a pitch over the middle of the plate from Braden Looper and hit it into the first row in right field, putting the Brewers ahead 3-0. Soon after, he popped out of the dugout for a curtain call.

The Brewers added a run on a sacrifice fly by Weeks in the second, then broke the game open with a three-run homer by Bill Hall in the fifth that put Milwaukee ahead 7-1.

Fielder then hit his 50th off Kip Wells in the seventh, a two-run homer that landed just over the wall in left field to put Milwaukee ahead 9-1.

Brewers starter Jeff Suppan (11-12) worked eight innings to beat his former team for the third time this year. Chris Spurling pitched a scoreless ninth.

Albert Pujols started his second straight game at first base for the Cardinals despite a lingering left calf muscle strain. Pujols was 2-for-3 with a walk, and still needs one more RBI to become the first player to reach 100 in his first seven seasons.