MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat St. Louis 5-3 on Saturday night, sending the Cardinals to their seventh straight loss.

Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Hoskins hit his team-leading ninth homer, a 407-foot blast to center off reliever Andrew Kittredge (0-2).

The NL-Central leading Brewers have eight straight wins over the Cardinals, dating to last season. It’s Milwaukee’s longest winning streak all-time against St. Louis.

The Cardinals, last in the division and nine games behind Milwaukee, have the longest current losing streak in the majors.

“I watched a lot of those moments last year,” said Hoskins, who missed the entire season with a torn right ACL. “So, just to kind of be right back in those is a ton of fun, but something that I’ll never really take for granted.”

Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta, who walked six batters in five innings in his last outing, walked one and struck out eight, giving up three runs in six innings.

Relievers Hoby Milner (1-0), Bryan Hudson and Trevor Megill held St. Louis in check, allowing four hits in three shutout innings. Megill earned his fourth save.

“That was really cool,” Megill said of Hoskins’ homer,

With two outs and a runner on first base in the ninth inning, Paul Goldschmidt tried to rally the Cardinals with a single off Megill, breaking a career-worst 0-for-32 skid. Goldschmidt had struck out in his first four at-bats, including twice with two runners on base.

Megill locked down the win by coaxing a fly out by Nolan Arenado, who went 0 for 5.

St. Louis starter Kyle Gibson struck out seven batters and walked four in five innings. The 36-year-old right-hander had thrown six or more innings in each of his first seven starts this season.

“We have to believe in ourselves and figure out if how we’re going about our business is the way we want to do it and, if it is, you’ve got to keep going,” Gibson said. “You’ve got to pick yourself up after nights like tonight. That’s obviously a punch in the gut having the lead there.”

The Brewers scored their first two runs when batters got hit by pitches with the bases loaded. Gibson hit Jake Bauers in the third inning, and JoJo Romero hit Gary Sánchez in the sixth.

Bauers went 2 for 3. William Contreras went 1 for 2 with two walks and has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games, tied for longest in the majors with the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman.

Lars Nootbaar went 2 for 4 with two RBIs for the Cardinals, who had 12 hits, to the Brewers’ six.

“The at-bats were way better tonight,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “We got beat tonight, we didn’t beat ourselves.”

The Cardinals entered Saturday having scored 129 runs, second-worst in the majors behind the White Sox (116).

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Activated INF Matt Carpenter from the injured list. Optioned INF José Fermín to Triple-A Memphis.

Brewers: Activated RHP Mitch White. Optioned RHP Kevin Herget to Triple-A Nashville.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (2-5, 6.43 ERA) faces Brewers RHP Bryse Wilson (2-1, 2.40 ERA).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Devin Williams, along with coaches Rickie Weeks and Ozzie Timmons, caught up with some local little leaguers on Saturday morning, May 11.

The trio stopped at Carver Park for a Beckum-Stapleton Little League game. They offered words of encouragement, helped the players warm up and served as base coaches to start the game.

“We got to fist-bump them,” said Jaden, one of the little league players. “I got to get some of the balls and throw them to first base.”

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Beckum-Stapleton Little League is a nonprofit, volunteer organization that provides opportunities for kids on Milwaukee’s north side. Since its inception in 1964, the organization has served more than 25,000 kids.

“You’re not going to make it to the big leagues if you never play the game at all,” Williams said. “A big part of us being out here is just inspiring that next generation and getting them on the field and growing a love for the game.

The Brewers and the Brewers Community Foundation have supported Beckum-Stapleton Little League for more than two decades, the organization said. Most recently, they provided a grant to purchase 400 full uniforms for little league players.

Even though the Nashville Predators have already set their tee times for the golf course this offseason, their AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals are rallying with two-straight wins in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Game 7 is at home on Sunday.

There is a high interest among Predators fans in the Admirals. Watching the young talent of the prospect pool has really invigorate the fansbase with the Predators already eliminated, with players like Philip Tomasino, Juuso Parssinen and Zach L’Heureux taking the spotlight.

The Admirals have home-ice advantage in their Central Division Semifinal matchup with the Dallas Stars affiliate, the Texas Stars. The first two were on the road for the Admirals, and they dropped both games leaving them up against the wall to win three in a row at home. Two down, one to go.

Admirals play-by-play announcer Aaron Sims recapped a 4-1 Game 4 win by the Admirals, which saw L’Heureux scored two goals, Tomasino with one and Parssinen with an empty-netter to put the Stars away for good.

L’Heureux is really sticking out in these playoffs through four games, notching seven points and giving Predators fans a glimpse of what he might be able to bring in Predators training camp in a few months.

A keen eye is being kept on how Tomasino responds for the Admirals. His 2023-24 campaign with the Predators didn’t good smoothly to say the least. He struggled to find adequate playing time, and even Head Coach Andrew Brunette’s future outlook for Tomasino is bleak at best.

Producer Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game shared this quote from Brunette on Tomasino’s questionable work ethic:

Tomasino does look reinvigorated playing for the Admirals, and for obvious reasons you hope the Admirals can win Game 7 and keep this valuable postseason experience going for Tomasino and many other of these prospects who have high aspirations to be fulltime NHL players one day.

Parssinen also unexpectedly saw his NHL ice time pulled from him and was sent down to the Admirals. He also appears to be taking it in stride and producing in the Calder Cup Playoffs with five points (four assists) in three games.

This Admirals team is a wagon for sure, but the Texas Stars also have a quality roster representing the Dallas Stars who are currently on the hunt for the 2024 Stanley Cup. Their top prospect is Mavrik Bourque, a 30th overall pick in 2020, who had 77 points in the AHL regular season and 10 points in these playoffs.

There has been a switch between the pipes for the Admirals between the four games. Games 1 and 2, which the Admirals gave up 10 goals, were started by Yaroslav Askarov. The hopeful backup goalie for the Predators for 2024-25.

Askarov had a superb regular season for the Admirals with a ridiculous 2.39 GAA and .911 save percentage, but he got rocked in his two playoff starts persuading Admirals Head Coach Karl Taylor to switch to the AHL veteran Troy Grosenick.

Grosenick, who is undrafted and first cracked into the AHL in 2014-15, has been rock solid in his two playoff starts at home to even the series. He has surrendered just four goals on 56 shots faced for a .929 save percentage. He should no doubt be the Game 5 starter.

Spencer Stastney was recalled by the Admirals to boost the defensive corps after recovering from an injury suffered in the Vancouver Canucks series for the Predators. He hasn’t played in the series yet, but might be available for Game 5 so keep an eye on that.

Finally, an awesome hype situation happened in the Admirals locker room before Game 3 when Mark Jankowski rallied the team. Jankowski played in 15 playoff games and 40 regular season games last season, but made the full-time jump and played vital minutes for the Predators in 2023-24.

You can’t help but love the energy the Predators have with their AHL affiliate right now. Let’s keep this train rolling with a Game 5 win to move on. The winner of Game 5 will advance to take on the Grand Rapids Griffins, affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings.