MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rookie Joey Wiemer's sacrifice fly with one out in the ninth inning gave the Milwaukee Brewers a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.
Christian Yelich homered twice for Milwaukee, with the second tying it at 3 in the sixth with a shot off Josh Taylor, who relieved starter Zack Greinke to begin the inning.
Brian Anderson opened the ninth with a single off Carlos Hernandez (0-1), who came on in relief to start the inning. Owen Miller’s one-out double sent Anderson to third. Wiemer then sent an 0-1 pitch deep enough to center to easily score Anderson — and then got a Gatorade shower from his jubilant teammates to celebrate the win.
Devin Williams (3-0) got the victory with a perfect ninth.
Salvador Perez opened the fifth with his eighth homer to put the Royals up 3-2, chasing starter Adrian Houser.
Houser, making his second start after four rehab starts at Triple-A, allowed three runs and eight hits as the Royals left six aboard through four innings, including three in scoring position.
Yelich tied it at 2 in the third with his fifth home run. Brice Turang led off with an infield single. And with two outs, Yelich sent a 2-0 pitch 427 feet to center.
The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first when Bobby Witt Jr. doubled, advanced on an infield single and scored on M.J. Melendez’s sacrifice fly.
Kansas City made it 2-0 in the third on consecutive two-out doubles by Melendez and Nick Pratto.
Greinke ended his five-inning outing by getting Wiemer on a called third strike, becoming the fifth pitcher in major league history to strike out 1,000 different batters — joining Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: Perez returned after being scratched Friday with blurry vision.
SKIPPING LAUER
LHP Eric Lauer, who has lost his last three starts, will skip a turn, but will be available out of the bullpen, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Saturday. Lauer lasted just 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday, giving up four runs — three earned — in a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers. Lauer has given up eight homers and walked 16 in 34 1/3 innings.
GREINKE’S ROAD DROUGHT
With the Royals bullpen giving up the lead, Greinke is winless in his last 21 road starts since a 4-1 victory on Aug. 13, 2021, at Anaheim when he was with Houston. Greinke was 0-11 with a 6.32 ERA in his previous 20 road starts.
UP NEXT
RHP Colin Rea (0-3, 4.94 ERA) starts for the Brewers in the series finale on Sunday, opposed by RHP Jordan Lyles (0-6, 6.20)
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