Brewers earn 4-2 win over Astros

HOUSTON (AP) — William Contreras hit a three-run homer off Justin Verlander in the fifth inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.

The Brewers trailed by 1 when Joey Ortiz singled to start the fifth before Verlander (2-2) walked Sal Frelick and Jackson Chourio to load the bases. Milwaukee tied it when Ortiz scored on a Blake Perkins sacrifice fly.

There were two outs in the inning when Contreras sent Verlander’s 13th pitch at bat to center field to put the Brewers up 4-1 and chase down the three-time Cy Young Award winner.

“I think it’s probably the best at-bat I’ve had in my career,” Contreras said in Spanish through a translator. “I think mostly in part what type of pitcher Justin Verlander is there.”

Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy is full of praise for the at-bat.

“He’s one of the best I’ve seen in my career and my career is much longer than his,” Murphy, 65, said. “It just made a statement about who the guy is and kind of represents our team. This batting presence is mental strength.

Verlander also weighed in on the match.

“Great batting,” Verlander said. “We fought and he won. … I made a bunch of good pitches, and he’s one of the best hitters in baseball and he got me.

Verlander had four hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three on Saturday, giving him 3,368 career strikeouts, passing Max Scherzer (3,367) for 11th on the all-time list.

Jake Meyers had two hits with a solo homer for the Astros, whose season-long six-game winning streak was snapped.

Milwaukee starter Bryse Wilson allowed five hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings. Hoby Milner (2-0) allowed one hit in 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.

Trevor Megill allowed a hit in a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.

The Astros had runners on first and third, with two outs in the eighth, but Jeremy Peña grounded out to end the inning.

Meyers singled with one out in the third before advancing to second on a wild pitch. The Astros took a 1–0 lead when he scored on a single to center by Mauricio Dubón.

Meyers’ one-out home run in the bottom of the fifth cut the lead to 4-2.

Trainers’ room

Brewers: Closer Devin Williams, who missed the entire season with stress fractures in his back, played catch for the first time since stopping Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Williams made about 25 throws to 60 feet and said he felt good.

Astros: RHP José Urquidy, who has not played this season because of a forearm strain, allowed seven hits and five runs – four earned – in four innings for Double-A Corpus Christi during of his second start in rehabilitation on Saturday evening. Manager Joe Espada said he would need one more minor league start before returning to the team.

Following

Houston RHP Spencer Arrighetti (1-4, 7.52 ERA) faces RHP Colin Rea (3-1, 3.45) late in the series on Sunday.