Christian Yelich hit his major-league-leading 23rd home run of the season, and Mike Moustakas went deep twice, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-1 win over the visiting Miami Marlins on Thursday afternoon.
All three homers were hit against Marlins left-hander Caleb Smith (3-4). Yelich and Moustakas are both lefty hitters, but that didn't bother them in the matchup.
Yelich, who was traded by the Marlins to the Brewers in January of 2018, finished 3-for-4. He also homered against Smith the last time they met on April 22, 2018.
Moustakas, who has 18 homers this season, went 2-for-4.
The Brewers, who lead the National League with 108 homers, snapped their two-game losing streak.
Miami had its four-game win streak broken, but the Marlins -- who have the worst record in the National League at 23-37 -- have improved over the past 19 games, sporting a 13-6 mark during that span.
Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta (3-2) earned the win, allowing four hits, no walks and one run in six innings, striking out nine. For his brief career, Peralta is 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA in 19 June innings, and he is 6-6 in other months.
Josh Hader picked up his 14th save of the season. He entered the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth and struck out Starlin Castro, who swung at an elevated 2-2 fastball that was clocked at 97 mph. Hader then pitched a scoreless ninth.
Smith allowed six hits, two walks and four runs in five innings. After winning his first three decisions this year, he is 0-4 with a 5.79 ERA in his past five starts.
Milwaukee opened the scoring in the first. Leadoff batter Lorenzo Cain drew a nine-pitch walk. On the next pitch, Yelich pulled a no-doubter, 438-foot homer to right center. Three batters later, Moustakas also hit a first-pitch fastball for a home run, although his blast went to the opposite field and traveled 403 feet.
The Brewers stretched their lead to 4-0 in the third on Moustakas' second homer of the day. This time, he hit a 1-2 slider to center, measured at 410 feet.
Miami got on the board in the sixth. Pinch hitter Rosell Herrera led off with a ground-ball double down the first-base line. Two batters later, Garrett Cooper hit a line-drive RBI single to center.
The Brewers took a 5-1 lead in the seventh on three straight one-out singles by Cain, Yelich and Ryan Braun, who got the RBI.
--Field Level Media
Miami | Milwaukee | |
Caleb Smith | Player | Freddy Peralta |
Loss | W/L | Win |
5.0 | IP | 6.0 |
2 | Strikeouts | 9 |
6 | Hits | 4 |
7.20 | ERA | 1.50 |
Miami | Milwaukee | |
Curtis Granderson | Player | Christian Yelich |
1 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 2 |
0 | HR | 1 |
2 | TB | 6 |
1.000 | Avg | .750 |