Milwaukee’s Willy Adames belted two home runs and drove in four runs and Colin Rea pitched six shutout innings as the Brewers defeated visiting Tampa Bay, 7-1, in the final meeting of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon.
Adames, who also homered in Tuesday’s win, stayed hot at the plate with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth inning and a three-run home run in the seventh to help the Brewers put the game out of reach.
The Rays have lost five of their last six games, while the Brewers earned their second-straight victory and took the series, 2-1.
Tampa Bay was unable to crack Rea (3-0) on the mound, as the Brewers starting pitcher limited the Rays to just four hits and two walks, while striking out five batters over six scoreless innings.
The Rays threatened the Brewers with runners at the corners in the top of the second, but they were unable to muster the timely hit against Rea. They also stranded a runner on third base in the sixth inning.
Tampa Bay scored its lone run of the game on a wild pitch by Abner Uribe in the top of the eighth, which allowed Richie Palacios to cross home plate. The Rays were held to five hits.
After Milwaukee went down in order in each of the first two innings, Brice Turang and Oliver Dunn had back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the third. William Contreras brought them both home with a two-run double into left field with two outs to give Milwaukee a 2-0 lead. Contreras has recorded a hit in four consecutive games.
Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin (1-4) was relieved midway through the sixth inning, after Adames had his first home run of the day. Eflin relinquished three earned runs on six hits, and struck out six batters.
The Brewers pounced on Rays reliever Erasmo Ramirez in the seventh inning, as Blake Perkins had a RBI double and Adames hit his second home run of the game later in the inning.
