Finally, things even out for Brian Dozier in Twins' 8-1 victory over Brewers

MILWAUKEE – Brian Dozier launched a first-inning fastball about 375 feet down the left field line Thursday … and watched it drift foul. He slashed a seventh-inning screamer straight up the middle — but watched the second baseman, shifted far to his right, snag it. He was 0-for-3 by that time, his batting average drooping to .190.

"Whoever came up with the crappy saying, 'They all even out,' that's probably the worst quote in all of baseball," Dozier said afterward. "I felt good at the plate."

He felt even better in the eighth, when the Twins' All-Star second baseman's luck finally changed. He looked for an inside pitch from Brewers lefthander Sam Freeman, pounced on a 95 mph fastball and connected on a 360-foot blast that had no chance to slice toward the foul pole or fall just shy of the fence. His second home run of the year was part of the Twins' best day at the plate this season, and their first road victory of the year, an 8-1 victory at Miller Park.

"It's been a challenging start for him," Twins manager Paul Molitor said of Dozier, whose batting average eclipsed .200 for the first time all season Thursday, albeit at only .203. "He's one of those guys who has a tendency to try to get it back with one swing."

The frustration has even begun to show on Dozier, which is rare. On Wednesday, he sailed a ball 400 feet to the warning track in deep right-center. When it was caught, Dozier yanked off his helmet and gestured. "His frustration was, he is working on trying to use the whole field more, he hits a ball fairly well to right-center, and it's caught," Molitor said.

Ah, but they all even out, right?

"A friend once tell me, they can't catch 'em in the seats," Dozier said. "I'm hope it's behind me now, but to be honest, I could care less as long as we got that W."

There was little chance they wouldn't Thursday, not with the reinvigorated Ricky Nolasco on the mound.

The righthander took the mound knowing that the Brewers had spent three days battering his starting rotation brethren, rolling up 13 runs while the starters lasted only 15⅔ innings. Milwaukee was hitting .308 as a team against Twins pitching.

Nolasco, the last pitcher to earn a starting job this spring, put a stop to all that.

He limited the Brewers to only five hits and one run while pitching into the seventh inning for the third time this year. Nolasco lowered his ERA to a rotation-best 2.66, mostly by using a slider that elicited some awkward swings by the Brewers.

"The key thing [Thursday] was the slider," Nolasco said. "After that long first inning [in which he gave up a run on a pair of doubles], it took me a few pitches to get going. Once I got loose, the slider was very good."

Good enough to retire 16 of the next 18 hitters, in fact.

Nolasco didn't need it, but the Twins showered him with run support, bringing their total to 25 runs in four games against Milwaukee. Miguel Sano hit his second home run of the season, singled home another and walked three times; he's reached base in eight of his past 10 plate appearances. Eddie Rosario collected four singles and an RBI, his first multi-hit game of the year, and Joe Mauer doubled and walked twice. Seven players had hits, six drove in runs.

Rosario even became the first Twins player of the season to collect a hit with the bases loaded, stopping the team's 0-for-10 start.

"Didn't you see me look up at the press box after Rosario legged that one out?" joked Molitor, who had been asked about the drought before the game. "One-for-11. We missed a couple after that, but at least we're on the board."

See? They all even out.