By of the

Cincinnati - Individual accomplishments always are more satisfying in the context of an important victory for the team.

Accordingly, Ryan Braun was all smiles Friday night in the visitor's clubhouse at Great American Ball Park.

"The fact that it came in a win, in a big win for that matter, makes it that more enjoyable," said the Milwaukee Brewers all-star leftfielder.

The "it" was Braun becoming only the second player in franchise history to accumulate 30 home runs and 30 steals in the same season. And the big win was a 6-3 decision over the Cincinnati Reds, thanks primarily to five home runs by the Brewers.

The victory allowed the Brewers to lower their magic number for clinching the NL Central crown to seven. St. Louis failed to cooperate further by pulling out a 4-2 win in 11 innings in Philadelphia, remaining 5½ games back.

Braun joined Tommy Harper as the lone members of the Brewers' 30 / 30 Club, with Harper accomplishing the feat (31 homers, 38 steals) in the club's inaugural season in 1970. Braun entered the night with 31 steals and got to 30 homers with opposite-field shots in the third off Bronson Arroyo and the eighth off Jeremy Horst.

It was a very good sign for the Brewers when Braun hit his first home run because Prince Fielder already had gone deep in the second inning off Arroyo, who allowed only five hits over 61/3 innings but four left the yard. When Braun and Fielder have homered in the same game since becoming teammates, the Brewers are 26-9 including a 14-game winning streak.

"It's just nice to get back to swinging the bats well," said Braun, referring to the fact the Brewers had not scored more than three runs for eight consecutive games.

"We hit five home runs tonight; put together some good at-bats. That's something we haven't done a lot of over the last week. The 30 / 30 is something I'm really proud of. It's not easy. There's a reason it had been done only once in franchise history."

Arroyo has been home-run prone all season (major-league high 44 allowed), so it was hardly shocking when the Brewers starting knocking balls out of sight.

Mark Kotsay, starting in right, joined in the fun with a two-run blast to center ahead of Braun's first homer in the third inning, and George Kottaras added No. 5 off Arroyo leading off the seventh.

"That was basically it for the offense," said manager Ron Roenicke. "We need to continue to try to get people on base and hopefully get two- and three-run homers. That was sure nice to see some runs up there today."

The beneficiary of the long-ball attack was left-hander Randy Wolf, who escaped a shaky first inning with only one run of damage, thanks to a diving stab by second baseman Rickie Weeks that resulted in an inning-ending force at second with two on.

"Most pitchers will tell you that the first inning is their toughest inning," said Wolf, who boosted his record to 13-9 by allowing only three runs over seven innings.

"I just felt my command got better as the game went on. I was able to throw my curveball for strikes, and I didn't walk anybody. That's always big, not to give extra bases. Just throwing strikes and getting ahead of guys is always the key to pitching a decent game."

Wolf had retired 13 consecutive batters before the first three hitters in the eighth singled to load the bases. Francisco Rodriguez took over and limited the damage to a two-run single by Joey Votto, who again tormented the Brewers with three hits and three RBI.

John Axford took care of the ninth for his 40th consecutive save and 43rd in 45 chances. So, after all the off-day chatter about comments made by Fielder and Rodriguez, the Brewers got off on the right foot on their final trip of the season.

"That was an awesome all-around win," said Fielder. "The goal all year has been to try to go out with a bang and try to win. The organization believes in winning right now. Hopefully, we got it back on track tonight.

"When we're hitting home runs and driving the ball, that's usually a good sign. Our pitching staff has been picking us up all year. As far as hitting, we haven't done it well as a team. Tonight, we all came together as a team and really swung the bats.

"We're in good position. There's no need to panic. We've got a good team and a great shot to do good things."