Brewers bash Twins 9-3

WP: Brett Anderson (1-2)
LP: Rich Hill (1-2)

HR: Ryan Braun (1), Christian Yelich (6), Avisail Garcia (2), Keston Hiura (6), Marwin Gonzalez (3)

Box Score

The Brewers offense is heating up, and they are very dangerous when hot.

They started in a deficit again as Brett Anderson made the start. In the second, Miguel Sano doubled, and then was driven in by Eddie Rosario. That put the Twins up 1-0 in the second. However, that would be the only lead that they would have.

In the third inning, the Brewers started the inning with two quick outs, and then the offense got going. Orlando Arcia drew a two-out walk, and Ryan Braun followed it with his first home run of the season, giving the Brewers a 2-1 lead. It kept building from there, with Christian Yelich drawing a walk and Keston Hiura hitting a single to put two runners on base. Jedd Gyorko walked as well to load the bases, and Avisail Garcia took advantage with an RBI single to drive in Yelich and Hiura, extending the lead to 4-1. That ended the day for Rich Hill, who allowed four runs on four hits and three walks.

After Caleb Thielbar finished the third and got through the fourth scoreless, the Brewers continued their surge against reliever Lewis Thorpe. Braun led off the fifth with a single, and Yelich homered, extending the lead to 6-1. Hiura walked next, but was caught stealing for the first out of the inning. Gyorko followed that up with a walk, and Garcia hit his second home run of the season to increase the lead to 8-1. The Brewers did get two more baserunners in the inning, but couldn’t drive them in.

Meanwhile, most of the pitching staff had a good day. Brett Andreson pitched six solid innings, only allowing the one run in the second as he put in a quality start. He allowed five hits and didn’t walk a batter, while striking out five. Drew Rasumussen then took the next two innings, and worked around two hits as he kept the Twins off the board, also recording three strikeouts in the process.

The Brewers tacked on a run in the ninth thanks to a Keston Hiura solo home run, then Corey Knebel took the ninth. Unfortunately, Knebel struggled as Marwin Gonzalez led off the ninth with a home run. Knebel then allowed a singled and a walk as he got two batters out, but a single by Ildemaro Vargas closed the lead to 9-3. Alex Claudio came in after that, and got a groundout from Jorge Polanco to end the game.

On offense, Hiura led the way with three hits and a walk, and Braun and Yelich each added two hits a piece. Garcia also had two hits, and drove in four runs in total. Overall, the Brewers offense scored nine runs on eleven hits and seven walks, and struck out just five times in the game. Yelich’s day brought his batting average up to .205, and he now has a hit in four of his last five games.

The rubber match of the series will take place at 6:10 pm on Thursday in Minnesota. Brandon Woodruff will face Jose Berrios in the third game of the series, and last meeting between these two teams this season.