Cardinals cannot deal with spirited and brazen Brewers

Before the first pitch, the Milwaukee Brewers took verbal swings at the St Louis Cardinals. When the game started, they switched from barbs to bats and did not stop until having beaten their rivals 9-6 in the opener of the National League Championship Series.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin // Even before the first pitch, the Milwaukee Brewers took a swing at the St Louis Cardinals.

When the game started, the Brewers swapped their barbs for bats - and just kept bashing.

The Brewers turned to their power duo of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder to beat the Cardinals 9-6 on Sunday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

The Brewers and their fans went wild as the big hits came during a rapid-fire fifth-inning rally.

Braun launched a long two-run homer in the first inning and added a two-run double to start the rally. Fielder hit a two-run homer and Yuniesky Betancourt added a two-run homer to cap it.

The turnaround came so fast the crowd was not finished cheering Braun when Fielder went deep.

"I don't even know if I heard the ball come off Prince's bat," said Ron Roenicke, the Brewers' manager. "When you can't hear the ball, the sound of it, because of all the people yelling, I wasn't sure what was going to happen there until I saw the ball flight."

The bitter rivals avoided any on-field confrontations, but the atmosphere was tense. Even Tony La Russa, the Cardinals manager, was showered with boos during pre-game introductions.

"I don't want our players and their players to be egged on, and I don't think they will," said La Russa, who added he had a sense some fans and media would be disappointed if there are no repeats of the confrontations the teams have had in the recent past. But they are going to have to show some fighting spirit of their own soon.

* Associated Press