Braun, Lind, Ramirez hit consecutive HRs to lead Brewers
DETROIT (AP) Ryan Braun, Adam Lind and Aramis Ramirez hit consecutive home runs in a six run-third inning, Jimmy Nelson pitched eight strong innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers 8-1 on Tuesday night.
Braun drove in four runs and Carlos Gomez had three hits and two RBIs for Milwaukee, which has won the first two games of the three-game series.
Nelson (2-4) gave up a run and three hits, walked four and struck out five. He retired 11 straight batters from the fifth inning until there were two out in the eighth, when Miguel Cabrera grounded a single to right.
Tigers starter and loser Anibal Sanchez (3-5) gave up seven runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Detroit manager Brad Ausmus was ejected from the game with two out in the bottom of the fifth by home plate umpire Tripp Gibson after Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler had been called out on strikes.
Milwaukee took a 6-1 lead in the third.
After Gomez knocked in the inning's first run with a two-out bunt single, Braun hit a three-run homer and Lind and Ramirez followed with solo shots. It was Braun's ninth home run, Lind's seventh and Ramirez's fifth.
Gomez's two-out, run-scoring double in the fourth made it 7-1 and sent Sanchez to the showers.
Braun also doubled in a run in the ninth.
Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the first on J.D. Martinez's two-out RBI single. It scored Kinsler, who walked, stole second and continued to third on catcher Martin Maldonado's throwing error.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: DH Victor Martinez was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He was struggling in his return from offseason knee surgery. ''We had a plan back in April. It hasn't worked out,'' Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. ''He had a cortisone shot last Thursday and we gave him three days off. He played yesterday. At this point we felt other steps were necessary. It wasn't working . There's a weakness created by the surgery. It's created an issue in another part of the knee.'' Martinez, 36, is hitting .216 with only one home run in 2015. The switch-hitter is 12 for 26 against left-handers and 12 for 85 against righties.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Kyle Lohse (3-4, 5.85) is 7-6 with a 5.66 ERA in 21 games (20 starts) against Detroit in his career. He hasn't faced the Tigers since June 21, 2012, when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Tigers: RHP Shane Greene (4-2, 4.21) will try to help Detroit avoid a sweep in the series finale.