MILWAUKEE - Prince Fielder drove in his first three runs this season and scored two more to lead the Milwaukee Brewers over the Atlanta Braves 5-4 on Wednesday night.
Fielder had been hitless in 11 at-bats when he singled in two runs with the bases loaded in the first against Mike Minor.
Fielder scored in the fourth on Yuniesky Betancourt's double, hit an RBI single off Minor (0-1) in the fifth and scored later that inning on a close play at the plate to give Milwaukee a 5-1 lead.
Marco Estrada (1-0) earned his first major league victory. He was called up from the minors earlier in the day to fill in while Zack Greinke is on the disabled list.
Estrada allowed a three-run homer to Jason Heyward in the sixth, but John Axford and the bullpen protected the one-run lead.
Estrada, who retired 11 of 12 at one point, finished the sixth inning after Heyward's homer. Milwaukee's bullpen had allowed nine runs in 13 innings this season, but the group of Zach Braddock, Kameron Loe and Axford looked much stronger this night with three hitless innings.
Axford walked Heyward to start the ninth, but picked up his first save after failing to convert his first opportunity in an opening day loss to the Reds. Axford struck out Alex Gonzalez, got Matt Young to ground out and retired Eric Hinske on a fly ball.
Martin Prado led off the game with a double, giving the Braves their first base runner in scoring position in the series, and came home off Chipper Jones' double with one out. But Atlanta failed to tack on any more runs when Brian McCann singled and Jones was thrown out easily at the plate by center fielder Carlos Gomez.
Fielder answered in Milwaukee's first at-bat. Minor walked the bases loaded to start the game and Fielder punched a single through the left side to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.
In his next at-bat in the third, Fielder singled, reached second on a groundout by Casey McGehee and scored on Betancourt's double. In the fifth, he drove in Rickie Weeks with a one-out single that chased Minor, setting up consecutive close plays at the plate.
First, Gomez was thrown out on McGehee's grounder. It was unclear on replays if McCann's tag touched Gomez's back as he tried to run over the catcher.
Then, pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay singled and Fielder came home. McCann caught Heyward's throw from right field in plenty of time, but Fielder slid in to make it 5-1.
Estrada started the sixth by allowing consecutive singles. Heyward homered to right field, cutting Milwaukee's lead to 5-4, but Milwaukee's bullpen held on for the first time this season.
NOTES: Kotsay snapped an 0 for 26 streak against left-handers with a single in the eighth. ... Wednesday night was the 10th anniversary of Miller Park's opening. ... Braves RHP Jair Jurrjens (oblique) threw four innings in a simulated game. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Jurrjens threw well and his next step will be a Triple-A start with Gwinnett before returning to be the fifth starter on April 16 against the Mets. ... The Brewers will send three players to rehab assignments this week. C Jonathan Lucroy (broken right pinkie) will begin on Thursday at Double-A Huntsville, RHP LaTroy Hawkins (shoulder) will head to Single-A Brevard County and LHP Manny Parra (back) will pitch for Single-A Wisconsin on Saturday.