MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rowdy Tellez hit a pair of three-run homers, Corbin Burnes won his fifth straight decision and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins 10-4 on Wednesday to sweep a two-game series between Central Division leaders.
Tellez homered off a wild Chris Archer (2-5) for a 3-0 lead in the first and against Jharel Cotton for an 8-3 advantage in a five-run fourth. Tellez has 20 homers, one shy of his career high in 2019 with Toronto, and nine multihomer games, including four this season. His only game with more RBIs was on May 4, when he had eight against Cincinnati.
“Our pitching is obviously our strong suit, but we’ve made some strides,” Tellez said of the team’s recent success at the plate. “The break helped us out and I think we are in a good spot.”
Tellez’s ability to go deep changed the course of the game, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.
“He’s a strong human being,” Counsell said. “Most of the time, all he’s got to do is put a barrel on it and it’s going to go. It was good to see him really take over the game today and probably win that one for us.”
Burnes (8-4) struck out 11 in six innings, reaching double digits for the eighth time this year and 20th in his big league career. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner gave up three runs and five hits while walking none and retiring 14 of his last 15 batters.
“Those last four innings, finally got some things that clicked. So, it was good,” Burnes said. “But as far as the second inning goes, got to do a better job of throwing up a zero there especially after the offense scores three.”
Milwaukee opened a 3 1/2-game NL Central lead over second-place St. Louis, which played later Wednesday. Minnesota’s AL Central lead was trimmed to two games over second-place Cleveland, which also played later.
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