Aramis waits to reflect on 2,000th career hit

MILWAUKEE -- Aramis Ramirez became the 15th active player to record 2,000 career hits Wednesday with a solo home run off Scott Feldman in the second inning.

He will wait to enjoy the personal feat, though, as the Brewers' 5-4 loss put a bit of a damper on it for Ramirez.

"I would say that I'm going to look at my number when I retire. When I retire, I'll look back and see what I've done in my career," Ramirez said. "So far, I'm still playing. I've got one more year on my contract and we'll see where I'm at."

Ramirez, who added his 2,001st hit with an RBI single in the sixth inning, has played for the National League Central's Pirates, Cubs and Brewers in his 16-year career, manning third base the past two seasons for Milwaukee.

He has played through a lingering left knee injury this season that forced him to miss 23 games in April and early May. The third baseman's power numbers have been down, but his Wednesday homer marked his second in his last six games.

He went deep on June 19 against the Astros for his first homer since May 17.

"Yeah, I feel better," Ramirez said. "Hopefully, it's just a matter of staying healthy. If I feel good and I feel healthy, I think I'm going to be OK."

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke has struggled putting together lineups with Ramirez one of several regulars in-and-out of the order with injuries. But Ramirez has been more of a mainstay in the Brewers' lineup of late, starting for the eighth time in 10 days Thursday.

"Aramis, I've got to get him out of the lineup every once in a while, and then I'm searching for a fourth hitter," Roenicke said. "These lineups, they get difficult. They're not as easy as you think they are to line them up right to think that you're going to score a bunch of runs because of it."