Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich homered as the Milwaukee Brewers downed the visiting Cleveland Guardians 9-4 on Wednesday.
Milwaukee jumped out to a 5-0 lead, with three runs in the first and two in the second before Daniel Schneemann brought the Guardians within one by hitting a grand slam in the fourth off Brandon Sproat.
Chourio answered in the bottom half with a two-run homer off Gavin Williams (9-4) to put the Brewers up 7-4. The homer was Chourio’s sixth in his past seven games and his 10th of the year.
Milwaukee’s highly touted shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt, who recently signed an eight-year, $50.75 million contract, produced his first career hit in the second inning and added an RBI single in the eighth that made it 9-4. Pratt went 0-for-3 in his debut on Tuesday.
The NL Central-leading Brewers moved a season-high 19 games above .500 with their third win in a row and second straight to open the three-game series.
Milwaukee reliever Chad Patrick (4-3) threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven of the 12 batters he faced. He yielded one hit and one walk.
Cleveland lost for the sixth time in eight games. The Guardians, with regulars Chase DeLauter, Jose Ramirez and Angel Martinez all on the injured list, managed just three hits.
Williams allowed seven runs on seven hits in five innings. He fanned four and walked two. Daniel Espino pitched a perfect sixth inning in his major league debut, striking out two.
The Brewers tagged Williams in the first. Yelich opened with his fifth home run. William Contreras and Jake Bauers drew consecutive two-out walks, and Sal Frelick followed with a two-run double to center.
Milwaukee made it 5-0 in the second. Pratt led off the frame with a single, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Yelich’s single. One out later, Brice Turang doubled in Yelich.
Sproat retired the first nine batters he faced before the Guardians loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, sandwiching two walks around a single by Kyle Manzardo. Rhys Hoskins struck out, but Schneemann then drove a 2-2 pitch 386 feet to right for his sixth homer and second grand slam of the season.
Sproat retired one more hitter before exiting with a right hamstring cramp. He gave up four runs on two hits in 3 2/3 innings, amassing two walks and six strikeouts.
