Parra brilliant in 2008 debut

MILWAUKEE -- Rookie Manny Parra didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning and notched his first Major League victory, and home runs by Ryan Braun and Gabe Kapler provided the difference as the Milwaukee Brewers took a 5-4 decision over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.

Braun took Giants starter Kevin Correia (0-1) deep in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Brewers a 4-2 cushion after the Giants had finally gotten to Parra for two runs on three hits in the top half. After the Giants scratched one more back in the seventh, Kapler hit his first career pinch-hit home run, and first long ball since July 4, 2006, off Racine, Wisc., native Jack Taschner in the bottom half of the seventh.

Catcher Mike Rivera, making his first start of 2008, drove in each of the Brewers' first two runs, with a two-out RBI single in the second and a booming run-scoring double in the fifth. Gabe Gross drove Rivera home with a single up the middle four batters later, making it 3-0.

Parra (1-0) finished having allowed two runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings, with two walks and seven strikeouts. The left-hander went 0-1 in nine outings with Milwaukee last year.

In his first appearance since allowing a game-tying three-run home run on Opening day, Eric Gagne recorded his first save in a Brewers uniform by working the ninth.