by TOM HAUDRICOURT, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

It only seemed that way.

"I felt like every time I looked at the scoreboard, I saw a huge '29' staring back at me," said the Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder.

When Braun steps to the plate Sunday, a huge "30" will be staring back at him instead.

Braun made No. 30 count in a big way Saturday night, blasting a two-run shot to right-center in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Brewers a dramatic 7-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, much to the delight of a Fan Appreciation Night crowd of 40,141 at Miller Park.

Perhaps the only disappointment came when Braun arrived at home plate to an intentionally muted celebration with his teammates. No one fell backward, as with Prince Fielder against San Francisco three weeks ago.

"No fun allowed," said Fielder, referring to the negative reaction that creative celebration drew from the Giants and others in the game.

"We had some good ideas, but it's not worth it," said Braun, who hadn't hit a home run since Sept. 11 and had just one since Aug. 28.

"Everybody's interested in seeing what we'll do. But it's just not worth it to us. People take it the wrong way. We put it on the back burner."

Braun did admit to pressing in an effort to hit No. 30. He was still getting his hits. In fact, he has a shot at 200 after getting to 189 with a three-hit night.

But he just wasn't getting lift on the ball. When he did, earlier in the home stand, he was robbed by a leaping catch by Cubs rookie centerfielder Tyler Colvin.

"I've been trying to hit it for a while," said Braun, who followed Craig Counsell's leadoff single with his blast off reliever Tyler Walker.

"It's definitely nice to get it out of the way. You can't help but think about it. This time of year, unless you're in a pennant race, you can't help but realize where you are individually."

The homer put Braun in exclusive company in club history. He joined Cecil Cooper, John Jaha, Jeromy Burnitz and Fielder as the only Brewers to compile 30 home runs, 100 runs scored and 100 RBI in the same season.

To have it win a game against a club heading for the playoffs made it even more enjoyable, said Braun. It also showed the Brewers have plenty of fight left in them despite their disappointing second half.

"It shows a lot about where our team's at, to continue to win games and fight back in a game like this against a great team, the defending world champions," said Braun.

"Everybody always wants to finish strong. You want to go into the off-season feeling good about where you left off as a team. You want the fans and everybody to be excited about next year."

Braun's homer capped a game that was played in sloppy fashion for the most part. Both teams were charged with two errors and had other plays that were mishandled.

The Brewers tied the score with two tainted runs in the sixth inning off veteran left-hander Jamie Moyer, who replaced starter Kyle Kendrick in the fifth. It started with a two-out walk by pinch-hitter Jason Bourgeois, batting for pitcher Braden Looper.

Felipe Lopez lofted a pop fly down the right-field line that landed inside the stripe and bounded into the stands for a ground-rule double. Counsell then poked a pop fly to shallow center that caromed off the glove of shortstop Jimmy Rollins when he raced out and tried to make a bread-basket catch, allowing both runners to score.

The play originally was ruled an error but was changed to a two-run single because of the distance Rollins had to cover to get to the ball.

"That wasn't the prettiest game but quite a finish," said Brewers manager Ken Macha. "Unearned runs played quite a role in the game."

Two of the five runs off Looper during his six-inning stint were unearned. But three were definitely earned, coming on a two-run homer by No. 8 hitter Paul Bako in the second inning and Ryan Howard's leadoff homer in the fifth.

"If I didn't give up that homer to Bako, I'd feel pretty good about tonight," said Looper, who has allowed 39 homers, most in the major leagues. "I hung a changeup right down the middle.

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