I will get to the 500 Mark after a while of course.

A couple of their touchdowns might have come on fluke plays, but the Green Bay Packers offense suddenly looked legitimate on Saturday night.

One week after being held to a single field goal in San Diego, the Packers put together several sustained scoring drives in a 38-10 preseason victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Brett Favre was 16-of-22 for 134 yards, throwing two touchdown passes to cap long drives and leading the Packers to a field goal after an interception by Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

"We drove the ball really well, ''Favre said in quotes distributed by the Packers. "We had some good drives. That was a good feeling, compared to San Diego.''

Falcons coach Jim Mora said he was happy with his first-team offense but needs to see more from his reserves.

"It's good to come to Lambeau Field and have Brett Favre on the other side of the field and have 69,000 people in the stands and see how those guys handle the pressure,'' Mora said. "Tonight, a lot of guys didn't handle it well.''

Vick played only the first two series for Atlanta, looking sharp on a seven-play, 80-yard drive on the first. Vick threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dwayne Blakley to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead.

"I felt good. I think everybody did their job,'' Vick said. "The first unit went out and played with a high level of intensity and we were able to make plays, move the ball, possessed great tempo. When we came out, it was up to the younger guys to pick it up.''

Mora didn't see that happen.

"After that, as everyone saw, it was downhill,'' Mora said. "You see we have a glaring deficiency in backups right now. Now that doesn't mean we don't have guys on this team that can't step forward and fill those roles.''

Favre answered by driving the Packers to the 3, where he threw a short pass that skipped off the hands of tight end David Martin and was caught by Bubba Franks to tie it at 7.

"We had to come out and punch those guys in the mouth early, and we did,'' receiver Donald Driver said.

Vick was intercepted by Packers rookie Tyrone Culver on the Falcons' second series, and left the game after completing 5 of 7 passes for 59 yards.

Atlanta backup Matt Schaub entered in the second quarter and had good field position after a 43-yard kickoff return by former Packer Allen Rossum.

Schaub got the Falcons into Packers territory, and Michael Koenen kicked a 51-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 _ another step toward solidifying Koenen's bid to handle both kicking and punting duties for the Falcons this season.

Favre threw his second touchdown pass to running back Najeh Davenport with 2:42 remaining in the half. Packers cornerback Jason Horton then intercepted Schaub's pass just before halftime, running it back 44 yards for a touchdown that gave the Packers a 24-10 halftime lead.

Rookie receiver Greg Jennings caught another Packers touchdown off a favorable bounce, snagging a tipped pass from backup Aaron Rodgers in the fourth quarter and running 85 yards for a touchdown, allowing the Packers to take a 31-10 lead.

"They caught a lot of breaks,'' Falcons linebacker Edgerton Hartwell said. "A tipped pass for a touchdown, another tipped pass for a touchdown. A blown coverage for another touchdown. ... Thank God for the preseason, it doesn't count.''

Packers rookie defensive lineman Johnny Jolly intercepted a tipped pass in the fourth quarter, setting up Rodgers' touchdown pass to Zac Alcorn to make it 38-10.

The Packers got improved pass protection from a revamped offensive line, that includes two rookie starting guards, and struggled to protect Favre against the Chargers last Saturday.

"I think we're definitely headed in the right direction,'' said Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who earned his first preseason victory as a head coach. "You could see that we were capturing the line of scrimmage.''

But Davenport, who is returning after missing most of last season with a broken ankle, carried 10 times for only 30 yards.

"I thought he played physical,'' McCarthy said.

Packers rookie linebacker A.J Hawk made a couple of solid defensive plays in the second quarter, tackling Justin Griffith for a two-yard loss and breaking up Schaub's pass two plays later.

"As a whole, we played a lot faster tonight than last week,'' Hawk said. "It's good to get a win, even though it's just a preseason game.''

Hawk was penalized 15 yards on the opening drive of the second half for roughing rookie quarterback D.J. Shockley, but later broke up an attempted pass by Shockley on third-and-15. Hawk's play should quiet some early criticism of the first-rounder.

"When he hits his comfort level, you're going to see what it's all about,'' McCarthy said.

Notes: Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall was injured in the second quarter, but Mora said it was minor. ... McCarthy said fullback William Henderson and tackle Todd Williams both sustained knee injuries

  Have a relaxing Sunday everyone.

I know we can do it.

Maybe it's true that not all of Doug Davis' starts this season have been pretty. He stalls between pitches. He ranks second in the National League in walks. He throws 17.3 pitches per inning, fourth-most among NL starters.

But the bottom line is that he wins.

Davis has won his last three starts and his last four decisions, and the Brewers are 16-10 in his 26 starts this season. The lefty will try to win another on Sunday, when the Brewers wrap up their four-game series against the Astros and Roger Clemens.

On Tuesday at Pittsburgh, Davis worked seven innings and was charged with three runs for his first quality start since July 14 at Arizona.

Clemens wasn't the vintage Rocket in his last outing on Aug. 15, surrendering a season-high five runs on seven hits in six innings. Two of those hits were homers, including a three-run shot by Cubs right fielder Jacque Jones, who parked a pitch over the center-field wall at Minute Maid Park. In his first start of the season against the Brewers, Clemens will be trying for career win No. 346.

With a win, the Brewers would win back-to-back series for the first time since June 12-16, when they took two of three from the Reds and swept the Indians.

"It's been a while," Saturday's winning pitcher Dave Bush said. "The last month or so, we've kind of been idling. But luckily, a lot of teams around us are doing the same thing."

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Doug Davis (9-6, 4.97)
The Brewers have scored at least six runs in five of Davis' last six starts.

HOU: RHP Roger Clemens (4-4, 2.71)
Clemens has limited right-handed hitters to a puny .174 batting average this season.

Player to watch
Corey Hart went 2-for-4 on Saturday and has hit safely in each of his last six games (8-for-26, .308). The Brewers plan to take a long look at Hart over the remaining weeks of the season.

I'm up to 63 submissions, here I come up the contribution ladder.

We were at this game, we saw it all.

MILWAUKEE -- Bill Hall, of all people, walked four times and a pitcher delivered the most important hit of the game on the way to a Brewers win. Stranger things have surely happened, but not at Miller Park of late.

The usually free-swinging Hall drew four of the 11 walks issued by Astros pitchers, including a bases-loaded pass that scored the decisive run, and winning pitcher Dave Bush hit a key two-run single in the Brewers' balanced, 6-4 win at sold-out Miller Park on Saturday night.

Bush (9-9) pitched into the eighth inning for his third win in four starts, and he poked a bases-loaded hit just inside the first-base line to score a pair of runs and cap a four-run fourth inning that gave the Brewers the lead for good.

"He's been raking lately," Hall said with a smile. "I'm surprised they got him out. He's a great athlete, and he puts the ball in play a lot. Especially with the bases loaded, that's a big hit because it puts the opposing pitcher in a tough situation with the top of the lineup coming up again."

That opposing pitcher was Astros left-hander Wandy Rodriguez (9-7), who was called up earlier in the day to fill in for injured right-hander Roy Oswalt. Rodriguez issued all four of his walks in that inning, including a bases-loaded pass to David Bell that gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead.

Two batters later with two outs, Bush gave the Brewers some breathing room. He swung late on a 1-1 fastball from Rodriguez, but hit it past first baseman Mike Lamb to score a pair of runs. Had Bush -- a .184 hitter this year -- made an out, Rodriguez would have escaped having allowed just two runs.

"As a pitcher, I know the difference that can make," Bush said. "If you can escape it without giving up too many runs, it can give you a boost when you get back out there. I understand what kind of situation he was in, and I was glad I could come through there."

The 11 walks by Brewers hitters matched a season high, and five of those baserunners eventually scored. Hall also notched an RBI with a walk, from deposed Astros closer Brad Lidge in the sixth, for the Brewers' decisive fifth run.

"That's a bit of a sign that we're starting to come out of it a little bit," said Yost, whose offense has struggled since losing leadoff man Rickie Weeks to injury and cleanup hitter Carlos Lee in a trade.

Hall lined out leading off the second inning, then walked in his next four plate appearances, including an intentional pass in the eighth. His previous career high for walks in a game was three, accomplished just once -- July 23 of this season -- in Hall's five-year career.

"I called Billy into the office last night and talked to him about those situations," Yost said. "For me, Bill's a pretty good hitter right now, but he's got a chance to be a great hitter. The only thing that's holding him back is his discipline at the plate. You can't consistently swing at the pitcher's pitch. ... It's a fine line, because you have to be 'patiently aggressive' in the strike zone to be a really, really good hitter."

Hall, who is hitting .267 this season, leads the team with 27 home runs and 64 RBIs.

"I like to swing, but in order to be a hitter in the middle of the lineup, you've got to take your walks," Hall said. "You can't always do it yourself. There are other guys behind you who are going to pick you up and get hits, and that's what they did today."

Bush, meanwhile, did not walk a batter in seven-plus innings of work. He surrendered four runs on eight hits while striking out five and was the only Brewers hitter with more than one RBI in the game.

"That's a big hit, man," said Yost. "That's two RBIs, and we won the game by two runs. It's important that these guys continue to work on the offensive part of their game, because they have to be able to help themselves through bunting and getting a big hit every now and then."

Bush appeared headed for a complete game, working with a 5-2 lead and 80 pitches entering the eighth. But after Eric Munson homered on Bush's first pitch of the inning and pinch-hitter Orlando Palmeiro singled, the Brewers turned to a bullpen that had not surrendered a run in 17 consecutive innings.

"Aggravated is the best word for it," Bush said of his reaction to Munson's home run. "I still felt strong, but at that point in time, when the tying run comes up to the plate, we've got good guys in the bullpen."

The bullpen's scoreless streak remained intact, even when Taveras reached on a fielder's choice against Jose Capellan and scored on Lamb's single against closer Francisco Cordero. The run was charged to Bush because of the transference rule.

Cordero was called into overtime duty, according to Yost, because left-handed specialist Brian Shouse needed a day off. Cordero held Houston in check in the ninth for his ninth National League save in as many chances.

The Brewers might still face Roy Oswalt on Saturday, a pitcher who has given them all kinds of trouble over the years.

But it's not likely.

"We're probably going to use [Dave] Borkowski," Houston manager Phil Garner said, referring to the long man in his bullpen. "I'm just kind of holding out if there's some miraculous recovery [by Oswalt]."

Oswalt was struck on the right wrist by a line drive in his last start and was still unable to move the joint freely on Friday. He's 10-6 with a 3.09 ERA in 18 career starts against the Brewers.

Borkowski is more of an unknown. He has pitched one career inning against the Brewers, allowing no runs on one hit.

The Brewers will go with right-hander Dave Bush, who last started on Monday in Pittsburgh and allowed one run in each of the first four innings on the way to a 4-2 Brewers loss. He has surrendered three or fewer earned runs in each of his three starts this month, which include a pair of wins.

The Brewers are 12-14 when Bush pitches, including 12-12 in his starts.

The team scored a 3-2 win on Friday night thanks to Prince Fielder's two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the Brewers' third win in four games, a modest winning trend for a team that has struggled since the All-Star break. Fielder was asked if it could be the start of something special.

"I'm not into that -- momentum and streaks," Fielder said. "If we just keep playing hard and try to capitalize on other teams' mistakes, that's what winning teams do. Hopefully, we can do that more often than not."

With identical records, the Astros and Brewers are four games behind the Reds in the National League Wild Card race.

Pitching matchup
MIL: RHP Dave Bush (8-9, 4.69 ERA)
Bush has been much better at Miller Park, going 5-4 with a 3.65 ERA -- an ERA almost two points lower than his road mark.

HOU: RHP Dave Borkowski (1-1, 3.48)
Borkowski threw six innings during the Astros' 18-inning game with the Cubs four days ago, but he managed to keep his pitch count low and is plenty rested for this spot start.

Player to watch
Gabe Gross, who is the latest player to see action as manager Ned Yost's cleanup hitter, drove in the Brewers' first run on Friday and is hitting .309 (30-for-97) over his last 43 games. Gross has only three home runs in that span. The Brewers are 5-1 in games we go to this year.

MILWAUKEE -- Tomo Ohka messed up. So did Corey Hart. But Prince Fielder erased those mistakes with one of his mighty hacks, and the Brewers walked away winners.

They overcame their mistakes on Friday night for the kind of win that was typical of Milwaukee's promising first half. Bill Hall was the usual suspect in many of those come-from-behind wins, and he homered on Friday, but Fielder was the hero this time, yanking a game-winning single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 3-2 win over the Astros at Miller Park.

"You always want to be in that situation," said Fielder, a rookie who is being asked to play a much larger role for the Carlos Lee-less Brewers. "The key for me is to know you're in that situation but not get too excited. You have to try to relax. You can't be over-tense in that situation."

It was certainly tense in the Brewers' dugout before Fielder's clutch hit. Ohka pitched seven innings and surrendered only one hit to the final 20 batters he faced, including 12 consecutive outs to end his outing. But his second-inning throwing error let in an Astros run.

"You can't give them runs when you're struggling to score," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "We've got to make them earn it. That could have ended up biting us there."

Instead, the Brewers rallied for their 34th come-from-behind win this season -- including 27 at Miller Park -- and their 10th walk-off win. Brewers closer Francisco Cordero (1-0) induced an inning-ending double play in the top of the ninth and picked up his first National League win.

Ohka's only troublesome inning was the second. With the Brewers leading, 1-0, red-hot Astros rookie Luke Scott hit a leadoff double and scored the tying run on Aubrey Huff's ground-rule double. With Huff at third and two outs, Houston starter Brandon Backe hit a weak grounder to Ohka, who should have thrown to first base but instead turned and fired to third base before David Bell could cover. Ohka's throw resulted in an error and gave the Astros a 2-1 lead.

Hall tied the game with a solo home run in the fourth inning, but the error loomed large when the teams remained tied at 2 in the ninth. The miscue cost Ohka a chance for his first win since July 23.

"He knew he messed up," Yost said. "He came in, stood right there, looked at me, shook his head and said, 'Stupid play.'"

Then there was Hart in the bottom of the ninth, called on to bunt with two on and no outs against struggling Astros reliever Brad Lidge (0-4), who hit the first Brewers batter in the ninth and then committed an error of his own on Jeff Cirillo's sacrifice bunt.

All 30,294 fans in the stands knew Hart would be bunting as well. The Astros knew, too, and Lidge fielded a comebacker and easily retired the lead runner at third base.

"Not very good, huh?" said Hart, who had doubled and scored a run in the first inning. "I'm glad Prince was able to pick me up and we were able to get the win."

"That's a situation where Corey knows what he's supposed to do, he just didn't do [it]. When they're running the 'wheel' there, you 'slash,'" said Yost, referring to a hitter pulling back his bunt and trying to bounce a hit past charging infielders. "We told him twice. Those are situations that you need to be able to realize [how to execute] if you're going to help us win ballgames.

"He's a kid that's going to be here a long time and he's going to help us win ballgames, and the sooner he realizes what it takes to win baseball games, the better off he's going to be."

Lidge struck out Tony Graffanino, and Astros manager Phil Garner made a move for Dan Wheeler to face Fielder, who was 0-for-3 to that point in the game and had eight hits in his last 45 at-bats. The first pitch was low in the strike zone, but Fielder pulled it into right field, scoring Cirillo with the winning run.

"We had runners in scoring position the last inning or two, and you're just looking for one big hit, somewhere," Yost said. "I'm glad that Prince got it."

But what was the pitch? Fielder had no idea. He knew it was a pitch down in the zone and figured it was a fastball.

"With runners in scoring position, you want the first pitch that you can hit," Fielder said. "You have to try to attack it. I don't want to let a good pitch go."

Fielder needed to relax. He decided a good way to do that was to look in the stands, and he channeled Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez by doing a few neck rolls "and pretending I was going to fall asleep."

"It worked," he said. "I might try doing that every time."

After snapping a streak of six consecutive losing road series, the Brewers returned home on Thursday on a high note. Now they have to rebound.

After a deflating loss to the Astros in the opener of a four-game series, the Brewers will send right-hander Tomo Ohka to the mound on Friday night to get the team back on track. Despite their inability since the All-Star break to get on a roll, the Brewers remain within shouting distance of the National League Wild Card leaders.

"You can't think about the Wild Card if you don't win," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "You have to win ballgames, and you have to put a bunch of wins together. That's our focus right now."

The same can be said for Ohka. In his last outing, Ohka surrendered three runs in five innings at Atlanta on Sunday and took a no-decision.

Someone will have to jump-start the offense. The Brewers were limited to five hits on Thursday and are averaging 3.8 runs per game this month. They scored 4.6 runs per game in the four months before August.

"The potential is definitely here," said third baseman David Bell, one of the few Brewers on a bit of a hot streak. "It doesn't do us much good to talk about it, but the potential is definitely here, and that's the first step."

Pitching matchup
MIL: RHP Tomo Ohka (3-3, 4.30 ERA)
After going 1-0 with a 2.50 ERA in his first three starts off the disabled list, Ohka is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in his last three starts.

HOU: RHP Brandon Backe (3-2, 3.93 ERA)
Backe has surrendered 31 hits over his last four starts but has won three of his last four decisions.

Player to watch
After a slow start since a move to the starting lineup, Corey Hart has begun to get hot. The outfielder has hit safely and scored a run in each of the last four games and has homered in two out of the last three. He made his first career start as the leadoff hitter on Thursday and hit Astros right-hander Jason Hirsh's second pitch for a home run.

 I'll keep moving up as best I can. I've reached the 40 mark.