ST. LOUIS (AP) — Milwaukee's Keon Broxton is quickly gaining a reputation at Busch Stadium. His tape measure home run Thursday night furthered that narrative.
Broxton and Eric Thames homered to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Thames' 18th of the season off Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh (1-3) in the ninth barely skimmed over the right field wall and broke a 4-4 tie as the NL Central-leading Brewers won their second straight series against the Cardinals and improved to 36-32. Milwaukee had gone 0-15-2 in the previous 17 series.
Broxton drilled the first pitch he saw 489 feet into the left field seats to tie the game 2-2 in the second. It is the longest home run in Busch Stadium III's history and the second-longest this season in the major leagues.
"I was shocked. I'm blessed to be able to do that," Broxton said. "There's a lot of players that came through this ballpark and hit a lot of home runs here, so for mine to be the longest is definitely a blessing."
Broxton is hitting .450 (9 for 20) with three homers and seven RBIs in six games this season at Busch Stadium.
"In BP he hit a ball the same distance, the same spot," Thames said. "It was halfway to center field. It was a blast. That homer was like the same exact spot. It was a shot. He's a strong guy, very lanky. When the ball hits his barrel, he's a strong cat."
Domingo Santana's single scored Eric Sogard to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead in the third.
For the second consecutive start, Brewers right-hander Zach Davies gave up four runs in five innings. He gave up nine hits and struck out one.
Oliver Drake earned his first career save for the Brewers. Josh Hader and Carlos Torres (3-4) combined for three scoreless innings of relief.
"Hats off to those guys in the bullpen tonight," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "Josh, Carlos and Oliver handled big innings in tight situations the whole way, six through nine, they did a heck of a job."
Stephen Piscotty and Aledmys Diaz had RBI singles to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead in the first.
Dexter Fowler tied it for the Cardinals with a solo home run in the third and again with a single scoring Matt Carpenter in the fifth.
Carpenter doubled in the first and fifth, scoring both times. He has doubled in six straight games.
Michael Wacha struggled again, giving up four runs in four innings. It is the fourth of his last five starts that the Cardinals right-hander failed to go five innings.
The Cardinals have lost three straight and fell to 30-35.
"We're not a team that should be below .500 and that's where we are and it's frustrating and I don't know how to say it in any other way," Carpenter said. "This is not something we're used to and it's not something we enjoy and it's not fun."
