OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Rhys Hoskins and Joey Ortiz hit back-to-back home runs in a five-run second inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Oakland Athletics 11-3 on Friday night.
The Brewers, who have won seven of nine, sent nine batters to the plate in the second to take a 5-1 lead. Hoskins, who entered the game hitless in his last 21 at-bats, put Milwaukee in front with a three-run blast after Willy Adames and Gary Sánchez led off the inning with singles. On the next pitch, Ortiz homered to left-center. Andruw Monasterio later added the fifth run, scoring from first on a single by Jackson Chourio that went under the glove of A’s left fielder Miguel Andujar.
“It's nice to jump on a team on the road early,” Hoskins said. “It puts you ahead of the eight ball a little bit, get some confidence for the pitcher to go out there and fill up the zone.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said that while hitting might be contagious, it still comes down to “swinging at the right pithces”
“When everybody’s doing that, it feels really good,” Murphy said. “It reminds everybody, ‘If that’s what he’s doing. I’ve got to do that.'”
Chourio and Blake Perkins knocked in runs in the fourth, extending the lead to 7-1. Sánchez cleared the bases with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hoskins in the ninth.
Hoskins has made hard contact over the past week despite struggling to find results.
“That's what makes this game hard,” Hoskins said. “Just continuing on with how I’ve been feeling within batting practice, doing what I can to help that translate in the game.”
Neither starter lasted five innings. The Brewers’ Aaron Civale allowed three runs in four innings, and the A’s JP Sears (10-9) left with two outs in the third after giving up five earned runs. Sears had entered the game 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA over his last four starts.
“You make mistakes up in the zone against a good hitting team, they’re going to take advantage of it, which they did tonight,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “I think JP’s (velocity) might have been down a tick tonight and could have had some impact on the performance as well.”
Ross Stripling pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Sears. Bryan Hudson (6-1) got the win with two scoreless innings after Civale exited.
Lawrence Butler led off the game with a homer for the A’s. He added a second RBI in the fourth to trim the deficit to 7-3.
The A’s drew an announced crowd of 14,031 at the Coliseum.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: Perkins was in the lineup on Friday after being activated from the 10-day injured list on Thursday. He went 2 for 5 and scored a run.
UP NEXT
RHP Joe Boyle (3-5, 6.21 ERA) is scheduled to start for the A’s in the second game of the series, with RHP Colin Rea (11-4, 3.52 ERA) slated to pitch for the Brewers.
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