ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jonathan Villar came into Monday night sitting on 59 stolen bases, so a two-homer night against the Texas Rangers wasn't necessarily ideal.

"I don't think about that because I need a base hit because I need one more stolen base, so that's two home runs today," he said. "Maybe that's better for me. I don't know, maybe finish with two more."

Two more home runs and a steal would mean a 20-60 season for the Milwaukee Brewers' 25-year-old second baseman who is getting a chance to be an everyday player for the first time in his career.

Villar's power and six solid innings from Matt Garza led Milwaukee past Texas 8-3 at Globe Life Park.

Texas (92-65) no longer owns the best record in the American League, falling behind idle Boston (92-64) by a 1/2 game.

The AL West champs were constantly playing catch up in the opener of a three-game series and a six-game homestand to end the regular season. The Brewers (71-86) roughed up Rangers starter Martin Perez early, with Villar inflicting most of the damage.

The leadoff hitter tagged Perez for a two-run shot in the third and followed with a three-run bomb in the seventh. Villar's five RBIs are a career-high.

"That's why he's in there every day because he's got that in him," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He had a big night and drove the bus for us tonight. That was a huge game. He did everything tonight."

Perez (10-11) was torched for eight runs on nine hits over 6 2/3 innings in his second-to-last start before the postseason. The lefty is scheduled to go in Sunday's regular-season finale.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister wasn't discouraged with the outing by Perez.

"The line, it is what it is, but I didn't feel like that told the story," Banister said. "I still felt like there were some pitches that Martin threw well. It just seemed like that when he needed to get the out, he couldn't get the out."

Garza (6-8) posted a quality start to beat the club he finished the 2013 season with. The right-hander went six innings and allowed three runs on six hits, striking out three.

Carlos Torres, Jacob Barnes and Tyler Cravy each pitched a scoreless inning to close it for the Brewers.

Texas did get reliever Jeremy Jeffress his first action since Aug. 23. The former Milwaukee closer missed a month on the restricted list after being arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Jeffress pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings after Perez was pulled.

"I wanted to get my feet back wet," Jeffress said. "Not go out there and try to overdo it. Make sure the ball is sinking like it's always been and make sure I locate."

Carlos Gomez and Elvis Andrus each had three hits for the Rangers.

The Brewers took a 3-0 lead against Perez in the third after opening the inning with three straight hits from Martin Maldonado, Michael Reed and Yadiel Rivera. The latter drove in the first run before Domingo Santana's single to center an out later plated two more.

Texas responded with its own barrage to start the bottom of the inning. The first four hitters reached, with Gomez and Ian Desmond each knocking in runs to close the deficit to 3-2. The Rangers also had runners at second and third with no outs, only to watch Garza work out of the jam.

Milwaukee, 11-7 in interleague play this season, pushed the advantage back to three on Villar's 17th home run, a two-run, two-out blast to left in the fifth.

Texas responded in its following at-bat. Andrus and Gomez lined back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning, making it 5-3.

NOTES: The Rangers joined Major League Baseball in paying their respects to Jose Fernandez of Miami Marlins with a pregame moment of silence. "We're going to miss, not By Art Garcia, The Sports Xchange

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jonathan Villar came into Monday night sitting on 59 stolen bases, so a two-homer night against the Texas Rangers wasn't necessarily ideal.

"I don't think about that because I need a base hit because I need one more stolen base, so that's two home runs today," he said. "Maybe that's better for me. I don't know, maybe finish with two more."

Two more home runs and a steal would mean a 20-60 season for the Milwaukee Brewers' 25-year-old second baseman who is getting a chance to be an everyday player for the first time in his career.

Villar's power and six solid innings from Matt Garza led Milwaukee past Texas 8-3 at Globe Life Park.

Texas (92-65) no longer owns the best record in the American League, falling behind idle Boston (92-64) by a 1/2 game.

The AL West champs were constantly playing catch up in the opener of a three-game series and a six-game homestand to end the regular season. The Brewers (71-86) roughed up Rangers starter Martin Perez early, with Villar inflicting most of the damage.

The leadoff hitter tagged Perez for a two-run shot in the third and followed with a three-run bomb in the seventh. Villar's five RBIs are a career-high.

"That's why he's in there every day because he's got that in him," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He had a big night and drove the bus for us tonight. That was a huge game. He did everything tonight."

Perez (10-11) was torched for eight runs on nine hits over 6 2/3 innings in his second-to-last start before the postseason. The lefty is scheduled to go in Sunday's regular-season finale.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister wasn't discouraged with the outing by Perez.

"The line, it is what it is, but I didn't feel like that told the story," Banister said. "I still felt like there were some pitches that Martin threw well. It just seemed like that when he needed to get the out, he couldn't get the out."

Garza (6-8) posted a quality start to beat the club he finished the 2013 season with. The right-hander went six innings and allowed three runs on six hits, striking out three.

Carlos Torres, Jacob Barnes and Tyler Cravy each pitched a scoreless inning to close it for the Brewers.

Texas did get reliever Jeremy Jeffress his first action since Aug. 23. The former Milwaukee closer missed a month on the restricted list after being arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Jeffress pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings after Perez was pulled.

"I wanted to get my feet back wet," Jeffress said. "Not go out there and try to overdo it. Make sure the ball is sinking like it's always been and make sure I locate."

Carlos Gomez and Elvis Andrus each had three hits for the Rangers.

The Brewers took a 3-0 lead against Perez in the third after opening the inning with three straight hits from Martin Maldonado, Michael Reed and Yadiel Rivera. The latter drove in the first run before Domingo Santana's single to center an out later plated two more.

Texas responded with its own barrage to start the bottom of the inning. The first four hitters reached, with Gomez and Ian Desmond each knocking in runs to close the deficit to 3-2. The Rangers also had runners at second and third with no outs, only to watch Garza work out of the jam.

Milwaukee, 11-7 in interleague play this season, pushed the advantage back to three on Villar's 17th home run, a two-run, two-out blast to left in the fifth.

Texas responded in its following at-bat. Andrus and Gomez lined back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning, making it 5-3.

NOTES: The Rangers joined Major League Baseball in paying their respects to Jose Fernandez of Miami Marlins with a pregame moment of silence. "We're going to miss, not just what I think was a great baseball player, but a tremendous human being," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. ... Texas had RHP Jeremy Jeffress and RHP Tony Barnette available against Milwaukee after long absences. Jeffress returned after a stint in a substance abuse treatment facility in Houston and Barnette was sidelined with a strained oblique. ... Texas C Jonathan Lucroy and Jeffress were facing the Brewers for the first time since being traded by the club at the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline for three top prospects. ... The Rangers and Brewers last played in August 2013.