Brewers 5, Angels 4
MILWAUKEE -- Rookie right-hander Junior Guerra pitched six solid innings and the Milwaukee Brewers hit three home runs, including two by Chris Carter, and beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5-4 Tuesday night at Miller Park.
Carter played a key role on defense, too, snaring an Andrelton Simmons line drive in the fourth to record an unassisted double play.
Defense would bail the Brewers out twice more. Center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis ended the fourth with a rolling catch of Carlos Perez's line drive and Yadiel Rivera snared a blooper from Cliff Pennington with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh.
Milwaukee got out of that inning unscathed when Yunel Escobar hit into a double play.
Making his first major league start, Guerra (1-0) went six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out three.
He started out a bit shaky, falling behind 1-0 on a first-inning RBI single by Albert Pujols. But he got out of the inning when Pujols was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double.
But a one-out walk to Cliff Pennington in the third led to a three-run inning, giving Los Angeles a 4-0 lead.
Carter sliced the deficit in half in the bottom of the third with his eighth home run, a two-run blast to center on the first offering from Nick Tropeano.
Jonathan Lucroy tied the game with a two-run shot with one out in the fifth and Carter followed with his second of the night to put Milwaukee up, 5-4.
NOTES: Brewers LF Ryan Braun was held out of the lineup Tuesday, a precautionary measure, according to manager Craig Counsell, as he tries to keep Braun fresh after undergoing offseason back surgery. Counsell added he had considered resting Braun even before he left in the 8th inning of Monday's 8-5 loss with what was called "general soreness." ... OF Domingo Santana was back atop Milwaukee's lineup Tuesday. He was a late scratch Monday because of shoulder tightness. ... Angels OF Daniel Nava was scheduled to continue a minor league rehab assignment Tuesday with Single-A Inland Empire, where he went 0-for-1 with a walk Monday night. Nava appeared in eight games for the Angels, batting .286 (4-for-14) before he was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 17 with a bout of patellar tendonitis in his left knee.