It had been nearly three years since the Milwaukee Brewers won a series over the rival Cardinals, but a major league milestone helped end that streak. Jesus Aguilar broke a tie game in the seventh inning with a solo home run to give the Brewers a 5-4 win Thursday night in St. Louis.
Aguilar’s homer was the first of his career, and happened in his 100th career at-bat. Keon Broxton had carried the Brewers offense to that point, driving in two runs on 4-of-5 hitting with a home run in the fifth inning off Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright. Broxton finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
Milwaukee took two of three from the Cards in a rain-shortened series, ending a run of 17 consecutive head-to-head series without a win. The Brewers were 0-15-2 in that stretch.
Travis Shaw and Hernan Perez each had three hits, with Shaw adding to his team-leading RBI total with a pair of runs driven in.
Oliver Drake (2-0) picked up his second win of the season, and Neftali Feliz earned his eighth save. Manager Craig Counsell used five pitchers in relief, with the bullpen combining for 4 1/3 innings of scoreless, three-hit baseball. Starter Chase Anderson struck out six batters and allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks.
The Brewers (15-14) are 1.5 games back of Chicago in the National League Central standings, sitting all alone in second place. The road trip continues with a three-game series in Pittsburgh starting Friday. Jimmy Nelson and Chad Kuhl both take a 1-2 record into their starting pitching matchup. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m.
AUDIO: Keon Broxton says winning the series in St. Louis is a huge boost :13
AUDIO: Craig Counsell says Jesus Aguilar could not have found a better time for first home run :20
AUDIO: Craig Counsell says Keon Broxton’s four-hit game a real breakout performance :20