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Weeks powers Brewers

MILWAUKEE — Ross Gload said he’s no fan right now of instant replay, but even the Marlins pinch hitter acknowledged the umpires fixed a bad call using a video review.

Rickie Weeks homered for the third straight game and the Milwaukee Brewers rallied again, benefiting from a replay reversal to beat Florida 8-6 on Wednesday night.

Gload thought he hit a two-run homer down the right-field line off Braden Looper to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 8-7 in the sixth inning. But first base umpire Bruce Dreckman’s colleagues reversed his call after spending two minutes watching a replay, the first at Miller Park since baseball instituted the system late last August.

“We just got together and looked at replay and the ball was foul,” plate umpire and crew chief Gary Darling said. “Pretty simple.”

Said Gload: “They got it right.”

Brewers manager Ken Macha said he believed the crew would have reversed the call even without replay and Looper and Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez also agreed the play wasn’t that close.

“I knew it was foul, I think the home plate umpire knew it was foul, too, right away,” Looper said. “From where I was looking, it looked four or five feet foul.”

The Marlins failed to mount a rally after the call.

Pinch-hitter Wes Helms singled in a run to make it 8-6 in the seventh, but Florida never got closer as Trevor Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save.

Weeks hit a leadoff drive in the first for his team-leading ninth homer. He led off the third with a triple and singled in a run in the fourth.

Weeks, the highly touted second overall pick in 2003, has been heavily criticized in his career by fans in Milwaukee, but got a standing ovation in his final at-bat in the ninth.

“Because of the expectations being so high on him, hopefully people are changing their opinion on him a little bit because the guy is a tough kid,” Macha said. “You love to have him on your team.”

The Brewers chased Ricky Nolasco during a five-run fourth.

Nolasco (2-4) retired the first two hitters in the inning, but the next eight batters reached on four singles and four walks, beginning when Corey Hart and Jason Kendall walked.

Looper (3-2) then blooped an RBI single just beyond diving second baseman Dan Uggla, and Weeks and Craig Counsell added RBI singles to give Milwaukee a 6-4 lead.

“I guess I’m the rally starter,” Looper joked.

Reliever Hayden Penn walked Ryan Braun to load the bases and Prince Fielder hit a two-run single. All the runs were charged to Nolasco, ballooning his ERA to 7.78 in eight starts.

“We’ll get it straightened out. He’s got another 24 more starts, so he’ll get it cranked up,” Gonzalez said.

The Marlins began the year 11-1, but poor pitching and injuries have quickly brought them back to .500 at 17-17.

For the second straight night, Florida took a 3-0 lead, this time with four straight hits to start the game. Chris Coghlan had a two-run homer, his first in the majors, and Jorge Cantu added an RBI single.

Coghlan’s sacrifice fly made it 4-1 in the second.

Looper retired 10 straight before John Baker led off the sixth with a homer to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 8-5.

That set up Gload’s drive that was just foul. Looper ended up striking out Gload and gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings.

Notes

-- The Brewers outrighted OF Brad Nelson to Triple-A Nashville after the game and called up top prospect, 3B Mat Gamel. Nelson had been 0-for-21 to start the season.

-- Brewers SS J.J. Hardy (headache) left at the end of the sixth.

-- Brewers C Mike Rivera (ankle) is expected to come off the 15-day DL on Thursday after a three-game rehab stint.

-- A thunderstorm starting in the second inning caused it to rain on some spectators in the second level even with Miller Park’s retractable roof. Rain can get inside when it’s windy due to the pivot point of the panels in the roof’s fan-shaped design.