HOUSTON (AP) — William Contreras hit a go-ahead three-run homer off Justin Verlander in the fifth inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 4-2 win 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 sacrifice fly by Blake Perkins.
There were two outs in the inning when Contreras sent Verlander’s 13th pitch of the at-bat to center field to put the Brewers on top 4-1 and chase the three-time Cy Young Award winner.
“I think that is probably the best at-bat I’ve had in my career,” Contreras said in Spanish through a translator. “I think mostly in part to the type of pitcher that Justin Verlander is there.”
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy raved about the at-bat.
“It's one of the best ones I've seen in my career and my career is a hell of a lot longer than his,” the 65-year-old Murphy said. “That just made a statement of who the guy is and kind of represents our team. That at-bat — that's mental toughness.”
Verlander also weighed in on the matchup.
“Great at-bat,” Verlander said. “We got in a fight 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 yielded four hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three Saturday to give him 3,368 career strikeouts, to pass 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) gave up one hit in 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.
Trevor Megill allowed one 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 moving to second on a wild pitch. The Astros took a 1-0 lead when he scored on a single to center field by Mauricio Dubón.
The home run by Meyers with one out in the bottom of the fifth cut the lead to 4-2.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: Closer Devin Williams, who has missed all season with stress fractures in his back, played catch for the first time since he was shut down Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Williams made about 25 throws from 60 feet and said he felt good.
Astros: RHP José Urquidy, who hasn’t played this season because of a forearm strain, allowed seven hits and five runs — four earned — in four innings for Double-A Corpus Christi in his second rehabilitation start Saturday night. Manager Joe Espada said he’ll need one more minor league start before returning to the team.
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