Brewers End 3 Game Losing Streak

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Carlos Santana hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 9-8 win over the Texas Rangers in a matchup of division leaders on Friday night.

The NL Central-leading Brewers rallied after the AL West-leading Rangers took a 4-3 lead in the sixth on Adolis Garcia’s RBI single that scored Corey Seager from second. Milwaukee then went on to score six unanswered runs over the next two innings.

“This was a tough game, but we won,” said Santana, who has 17 homers. “I’m excited. I’m working hard on my swing, my approach, and trying not to swing at bad pitches.”

The Rangers (72-50) lost a series opener for the first time in August. The Rangers hold a 2½ game lead over Houston, which also lost Friday night, in the division.

The Brewers (66-57) have a two-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds in their division.

Santana’s homer came on a 2-2, 97-mph fastball against Josh Sborz (5-5), who had started the seventh for Texas. Sborz walked Christian Yelich to start the inning, and William Contreras singled to right ahead of the homer, which gave Milwaukee a 6-4 lead.

“Carlos’ home run was his second huge home run on the road trip,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “There were a lot of pressure innings this game, and we did a nice job with that.”

Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta (9-8, 4.08 ERA) starts Game 2 against Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning (9-4, 3.10) tomorrow afternoon 3:05pm first pitch on KFIZ.