Rhys Hoskins’ two-run shot in the first inning was one of three homers off Sonny Gray as the Milwaukee Brewers handed the visiting St. Louis Cardinals their fifth straight loss, 7-1, on Thursday.

Jake Bauers and Joey Ortiz also had solo homers off Gray (4-2), who entered with a 0.89 ERA and had allowed just one homer in his first five starts.

Ortiz’s third long ball of the year, a 408-foot drive to center with two outs in the fourth, put Milwaukee up 5-1.

The Cardinals loaded the bases off Brewers starter Tobias Myers with no outs in the fifth on single and two walks, but Jared Koenig came on and got a force at home, a foul popout and then an inning-ending flyout.

The Brewers made it 6-1 in the bottom half when William Contreras singled to open and Christian Yelich followed with a triple into the right field corner. Contreras added an RBI single in the seventh.

Koenig (4-1) followed his escape act with a scoreless seventh for the victory in the opener of a four-game series. The Brewers won for just the second time in six games.

Gray allowed six runs on seven hits in five innings, striking out six and walking one, with a run-scoring wild pitch and a hit batter. His only other loss this season also was to Milwaukee, 2-0 on April 21.

On Thursday, the Brewers scored three times in the first off Gray, who had not allowed a run in any of the first four innings this year. Contreras and Yelich singled with one out and advanced on a groundout. Contreras came home on a wild pitch. Hoskins followed with his eighth homer, sending a 2-1 pitch 386 feet to right-center.

Bauers opened the second with his third homer to put the Brewers in front 4-0.

Lars Nootbar got that one back in the third with his third homer, a two-out solo shot to center.

–Field Level Media