HOUSTON– 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 as Contreras sent Verlander’s 13th pitch to center field to put the Brewers on top 4-1 and chase down the three-time Cy Young Award winner.
“I think that was probably the best hit I had in my career,” Contreras said in Spanish through a translator. “I think mostly in part because of the type of pitcher Justin Verlander is out there.”
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy praised the hit.
“He’s one of the best I’ve seen in my career and my career is much longer than his,” said Murphy, 65. “It just made it clear who the guy is and kind of represents our team. That hitting – that’s mental toughness.”
Verlander also weighed in on the confrontation.
“Great hit,” Verlander said. “We fought and he won. … I made a lot of good pitches and he’s one of the best hitters in baseball and he caught me.
Verlander yielded four hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three times Saturday for a total of 3,368 career strikeouts, passing Max Scherzer (3,367) for 11th on the all-time list.
Jake Meyers had two hits with a solo home run 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 scored 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 by Mauricio Dubón.
Meyers’ home run with one out in the bottom of the fifth cut the lead to 4-2.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: Closer Devin Williams, who missed the entire season with stress fractures in his back, played for the first time since being shut down Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Williams made about 25 shots 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 rehab start Saturday night. Manager Joe Espada said he will need one more minor league game before returning to the lineup.
NEXT
Houston RHP Spencer Arrighetti (1-4, 7.52 ERA) opposes RHP Colin Rea (3-1, 3.45) when the series concludes on Sunday.
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