Brewers give up five home runs in blowout loss to Astros

Entering Monday, the Brewers trailed just the New York Mets for the most home runs allowed among National League teams. They had allowed 61 home runs, outpacing the offense who had hit 56 entering tonight. Corbin Burnes had only given up five long balls all season before tonight.

Two hours and forty minutes later, a new leader would be at the bottom of the home run count. It started early and often for the Astros, who teed off on the Brewers to win their eighth straight, 12-2.

The damage started in the second. Corey Julks hit a solo home run to left and, two batters later, Martin Maldonado launched one to left again. The two solo home runs gave the Astros a quick 2-0 lead. The lead would be cut to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning when Rowdy Tellez led off with a solo home run to center. The Brewers had a chance to tie it with two outs, but Owen Miller was robbed of an extra-base hit with a nice grab from Jake Meyers.

Meyers would get the job done at the plate two innings later. With the score still 2-1, the Astros found a run not via the home run. A single from Jose Abreu and Corey Julks put two men on with one out. A wild pitch moved them over, and Meyers got them in when Miller robbed Meyers of an extra-base hit at third, stopping multiple runs from scoring. Still, the Astros lead increased to 3-1.

The Astros had another multi-home run inning in the fifth. Mauricio Dubon led off the inning with a home run to center. Two batters later, Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez hit the fourth solo home run of the game for the Astros, extending the lead to 5-1. The fifth would be all for Burnes, who exited giving up five runs and striking out five.

As the Brewers went to their bullpen, the onslaught would continue. Given Milwaukee’s recent struggles on offense, a four-run lead would have sufficed for the Astros. However, they wanted more. A Meyers hit-by pitch, Maldonado single, and Dubon walk loaded the bases in the top of the sixth. Alex Bregman, who was 0-3 going into the 6th, drove in one with a single to left. With the bases still loaded, Hoby Milner came in to try and keep the damage to a minimum.

He would be unable to do that, as Yordan Alvarez hit his second home run of the night, this time a grand slam to make it a 10-1 game.

The Brewers tried to chip away at the lead in the seventh. A Brice Turang walk and a Tyrone Taylor double made it a 10-2 game, but that would be it for the offense. Two more runs would be added on in the eighth thanks to a Julks double, and Mike Brosseau would wow the remaining crowd with a clean ninth to end the blowout, 12-2 Astros.