Sal Frelick went deep to snap Milwaukee’s seven-game homerless streak and propel the Brewers to a 13-2 rout of the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday in the opener of the three-game series.
Frelick opened the second inning with his second homer, sending a 1-2 pitch from Merrill Kelly 396 feet to right-center. The seven-game streak without a homer as the Brewers longest since a franchise record 13 games in August 1999.
Arizona rallied within 3-2 with two runs in the fifth, but the Brewers answered with two in the bottom half and then erupted for eight runs in the sixth to go in front 13-2.
Brewers starter Chad Patrick (2-1) allowed two runs on one hit in five innings. He walked five and struck out five in a 98-pitch outing. Shane Drohan followed with a scoreless inning and Jake Woodford handled the last three innings for his first save.
It was the second consecutive rocky outing for Kelly, making his third start since coming off the injured list. The 37-year-old right-hander allowed five runs on six hits in five innings with five walks and one strikeout. Kelly was tagged for eight runs in 4 1/3 innings in his previous start.
Held hitless through four innings, the Diamondbacks capitalized on a sudden lack of command by Patrick in the fifth, when he walked the first three hitters of the inning. James McCann singled in two runs to pull Arizona within 3-2.
Tyler Black’s two-run single in the bottom of the frame restored Milwaukee’s three-run edge.
The Brewers bunched eight hits, including two bunt singles, a walk and catcher’s interference for eight runs in the sixth off Andrew Hoffmann, who entered to start the inning but got just one out.
Joey Ortiz’s two-run single put Milwaukee up 3-0 in the fourth.
Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas opened the eighth with a single to center, extending his hitting streak to 24 games, including 21 this season. That ties Vargas with Steve Garvey for the fourth-longest streak to start a season since 1940. Ron LeFlore had a 30-game season-opening streak in 1976.
