"In this Year of Awful Pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers, one member of the staff has refused to be stricken by the spreading epidemic.

Run support or not, Yovani Gallardo provides a respite from the madness every five days.

Fulfilling the role of stopper he had no choice but to embrace, Gallardo came through again Wednesday night to snap the Brewers' three-game skid in a 7-4 triumph over the Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium.

Not only did Gallardo pitch seven strong innings, he socked a home run in the seventh to tie the score, 2-2. It was Gallardo's second homer of the season and sixth of his career, and the Brewers are 6-0 in those games.

"He should hit more homers," joked manager Ken Macha, who used John Axford for a five-out save to close the game.

With an injury-riddled, overworked bullpen running on fumes, Gallardo's seven innings were even more important. He allowed four hits and one earned run, with four walks and four strikeouts.

In boosting his record to 6-2 with a 2.64 earned run average, Gallardo had to work hard, throwing 114 pitches and retiring the side in order just twice. Since opening the season with two losses, Gallardo is 6-0 with a 1.93 over 10 outings.

"I've been feeling good all year," said Gallardo, who pitched the first shutout of his career in his previous start against the New York Mets. "My first couple of starts, I struggled with my command. It's something I've worked on.

"Every starter wants to go nine every start. We all know that. Give the bullpen a little bit of a break."

Brewers starters have had trouble throwing zeros in the first inning, but the run the Marlins scored off Gallardo in that frame wasn't his fault. Leadoff hitter Chris Coghlan reached second when third baseman Casey McGehee short-hopped his shallow pop and threw past first baseman Prince Fielder for an error.

Coghlan moved to third on Gaby Sanchez's single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jorge Cantu that leftfielder Ryan Braun nearly lost in the twilight."