Next game:  Monday, July 7th vs. Colorado
Brewers Gameday with the Jockey Pregame Show at 6:30 p.m., followed by Brewers Extra Innings after the game on 620WTMJ.

J.J. Hardy is on such a hitting roll that he is starting to receive comparisons to some of the game's greats.  Brewers' Manager Ned Yost said after the game that the way Hardy has been tearing the cover off the ball is comparable to some of the hitting stretches Babe Ruth had. 

"He's just hitting everything," Yost said.  "I don't know how much better it gets than it is right now for any player.  I don't think Babe Ruth had stretches as good as this.  It really does not get much better than the way he is swinging right now."

Read more about this story below this series of links:

Related Coverage:
• Brewers To Acquire C.C. Sabathia
• Braun, Sheets All-Stars, Hart in Final Online Vote
• Current MLB All-Star Rosters
• Vote Corey Hart
• Sun. Final: Brewers 11, Pirates 6
• Big Unit Blog: Sabathia to the Brewers - A Contender
• The Llama Laments: Go with a Guarantee Even If It Doesn't Guarantee Anything

Audio
•  Journal Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt, who broke the Sabathia trade, on Brewers 360
•  Ryan Braun, Ben Sheets, Corey Hart Press Conference
•  Bill Hall
•  J.J. Hardy
•  Ned Yost
•  Todd "The Llama" Welter's Inside The Locker Room Report

Click here to hear more about what Yost had to say about the win.

Hardy had a Ruthian day of two home runs, a double, and four RBI.  Hardy got a team effort on the offensive front as the Brewers crushed the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-6 at Miller Park.

"I can't explain it, it feels good, I'm just relaxed and comfortable up there and it seems like I'm getting a lot of pitches to hit," Hardy stated.

Click here to hear more about what Hardy had to say about his hot hitting.

In Hardy's last 18 games, he has been hitting .446 and raised his batting average by fifty points.  He now stands at a .295 average with 12 home runs.

"When things are going bad, it seems like you hit the ball hard and everything gets caught," Hardy added.  "When things are going good, it seems like you don't have to hit the ball hard and it just finds holes,"

Ryan Braun celebrated making his first All-Star team by going 3-5 with a home run, a double, two runs, and a single.  Braun leaped over Ken Griffey Jr. to be voted in as a starter on the NL All-Star team.  He ended up receiving the second most votes among NL players.

"I was nervous all morning, my stomach was churning and I'm just really fortunate that it ended up working out this way," Braun said.  "I'm just really excited to be a part of it. Obviously, I appreciate the history and tradition of this game.  Having an opportunity to play at Yankee Stadium for the last time, it's going to be a really historic event.  I'm excited to be a part of it and thank everybody for their support.

Click here to hear more about what Braun had to say about making the All-Star team.

Pitcher Ben Sheets will join Braun in New York for the All-Star Game as the All-Star teams were announced during the game.

"Once you're a Major League All-Star once, you're always a Major League All-Star," Sheets said about getting the All-Star nod.  "It's a title that sticks with you and it's a big honor."

Click here to hear more about what Sheets had to say about making the All-Star team.

It was not a good day to be a Pirates' pitcher as the Brewers pounded out 16 hits with 11 going for extra bases.  The Crew tied a club record with nine doubles.  Bill Hall continued to eat up the Pirates' pitching with two doubles and 2RBI. 

Click here to hear more about what Hall had to say about his performance.

Corey Hart had a short day as he only played five innings but he made them count with two doubles, a RBI, and two runs.  Hart just missed getting an invitation to New York but he is one of five players in the running to be voted in by the fans for the final NL roster spot.

"I'll do anything to get to the All-Star Game," Hart said.  "Everybody has plans but going to the All-Star Game is obviously better than any kind of plans you're going to have so whatever it takes, I'm more than happy to do what it takes to get there but it's up to the fans."

Click here to hear more about what Hart had to say about making the All-Star team.

The Pirates actually looked like they could salvage one win in this three-game series by knocking around starter Jeff Suppan.  Suppan was spotted a 4-0 lead in the first on Hardy's two-run jack, Braun's solo shot, and Hall's RBI single. 

Suppan gave the lead right back in the second.  Jason Bay led off the inning with a bomb to center.  Suppan then loaded the bases with a walk to Adam LaRoche and singles by Raul Chavez and Zack Duke.  Nate McLouth cleared the bases with a two-out double that tied the game.  McLouth finished 2-5 with 3RBI.

The Pirates pulled ahead the next inning when Suppan left a pitch up in the zone and LaRoche parked it in the right field stands that added two more runs.

Suppan only lasted three innings, allowed six earned runs, and walked two.

"He was just flat," Yost said.  "He battled them and just didn't have the finish on his pitches he normally has."

Duke was even flatter as the Brewers knocked him out of the game in the third.  Hart doubled in Prince Fielder and then Hall tied it up at six with a double of his own. 

Duke surrenedered six runs, five earned, seven hits and walked three in two and one-thirds innings of work.

Denny Bautista came in for Duke and the Brewers poured on the runs with that move in the fourth.  Hardy blasted another homer to left for two more Brewers' runs.  Hart drove in Braun with a double to left that made it 9-6.  The Pirates then called upon lefty Sean Burnett.  Hall ate him up with a RBI double to left that put the score at 10-6. 

The Brewers added one more in the sixth on Gabe Kapler's RBI single to left.

Mitch Stetter (2-1) picked up the win as he pitched two scoreless innings.  He got help from some his friend in David Riske, Guillermo Mota, and Brian Shouse as they combined to keep the Pirates off the scoreboard for the last six innings. 

"Our bullpen was completely rested with the two starts we have had prior to this game," Yost explained.  "You just knew somewhere in that pen that we had two guys that had to get two innings.  Riske did that and Stetter did that.  They shut it down right there and held them scoreless and allowed us to climb right back in it."

Bautista (1-1) got the loss for his dreadful fourth inning.

The Brewers go to 49-39 on the year and complete their fifth series sweep of the season.  The Pirates fall to 40-47 in the standings.  The Colorado Rockies come to town for a four-game set at Miller Park.  Seth McClung (5-3, 4.18) will start game one for Milwaukee while the Rockies send right hander Ubaldo Jimenez (3-8, 4.50) to the mound.