Brewers ace Ben Sheets left the game with a sore hamstring after facing only four batters in the first inning, but Milwaukee still beat the struggling Astros to regain the National League Central lead, reports AP. Four Brewers homered in the 9-1 rout, including Johnny Estrada, who hit his second career grand slam in the 4th off Astros rookie Felipe Paulino.
Claudio Vargas took the win for Milwaukee with four solid innings of relief, as the Brewers bullpen held the Astros hitless from the third inning on. Ryan Braun hit a two-run blast in the fifth, and Geoff Jenkins and Rickie Weeks went long back-to-back off closer Brian Moehler in the 9th to bury the Astros even deeper. (More MLB stories.)