One hit off a season high, chasing the opposing team's starter in the third inning and 10 runs in the first three innings seemingly would add up to an easy victory and a nice way for the Brewers to start their six-game homestand.
But a few shaky pitching performances and some ill-timed defensive lapses made a 12-8 Brewers victory against the Pirates harder than it should have been.
When asked if there was an air of uncertainty once the Pirates cut a nine-run deficit to four, Brewers manager Ned Yost let out a good-natured chuckle before answering.
"You just never know," Yost said. "You're never really at ease with an eight-, nine-run lead when the game is still early."
Early on, the Brewers hit anything and everything Pirates starter Zach Duke was throwing at them. They jumped on him early in the count, battled off pitches to draw walks, and drove the ball seemingly all over Miller Park before he was removed in the third.
After the third inning, the Brewers' 1-5 hitters had made 15 plate appearances, reaching base 13 times and scoring nine runs. Carlos Lee was a triple short of the cycle and the game seemed well in hand.
"All in all, the bats were great tonight," Yost said. "It's nice to have a little bit of cushion so in case you do make a mistake you've got room to cover it."
Twice in those first three innings the Brewers scored four runs on four hits. Bill Hall hit a two-run home run in the first as six of the first seven Brewers batters reached base.
"I didn't know what Duke was going to start me out with," Hall said. "We had a runner in scoring position and it was important for us to get on the board. He hung a curveball and I hit it out."
Hall hit two home runs to run his total to 22 on the season and Lee's home run was his 28th of the year. After Hall's two-run home run in the fifth, the Brewers were ahead by a seemingly healthy 12-3 margin.
But, as was the case during the Brewers' road trip, the early lead began to dwindle as the game wore on and the Brewers' bats went silent in the final few innings.
The Pirates got to Brewers starter Doug Davis in the sixth and a few shoddy defensive plays by Chris Barnwell and Geoff Jenkins resulted in three runs on four hits. Against reliever Jose Capellan in the seventh, the Pirates would add two more and cut the lead to four.
Matt Wise shut the door in the final two innings, allowing just one hit.
While the Pirates were making the game close, the Brewers' defense was doing all it could not to run into each other. Although the team was only charged with two errors, there were several plays that could have been ruled errors.
"It was a little frustrating when you're executing your pitches and they're dropping them or whatever. [It] was great efforts by the defense, but they were perfectly placed balls," Davis said.
Davis (6-6) had been the victim of a team-leading five blown saves, including two straight games. The Brewers' offense made sure it wouldn't happen on Monday.
Davis pitched six innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits and striking out three. It wasn't his sharpest outing of the season, but with the offensive output he received, it would have taken an awful showing to lose the game.
"It could have been a lot worse, I could have given up four or five in [the sixth] inning and had a breakdown," Davis said. "I thought I pitched well. The line doesn't say it, but I thought I executed my pitches well."
It was all part of a wild game that saw both teams bat around during an inning, a combined six errors, 29 hits and a balk.
More importantly, though, the Brewers made their mark to start a crucial homestand in an attempt to climb back into the thick of the playoff race.
After going 3-9 in their previous 12 games before Monday's victory, the Brewers had dropped from 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Cardinals to a season-high 10 games behind the St. Louis entering Monday. But with a return to the comforts of Miller Park -- where the Brewers are now 30-20 this season -- the team can start to make some real headway now.
"It's no more important than getting off on the right foot on the road," said Yost, sticking to his one game at a time mentality. "They're all important."