Josh Bell homered for the fourth straight game and the Miami Marlins beat the host Milwaukee Brewers 7-3 on Saturday night.
Bell’s 14th long ball of the season, a three-run shot to right-center field, capped a five-run seventh inning for Miami, which has taken the first two games of a three-game series.
The Marlins were playing their first game since trading outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the New York Yankees earlier Saturday. Miami got three minor-leaguers as part of the deal.
Rhys Hoskins hit a three-run blast in the fourth, putting Milwaukee up 3-2. That was enough to line Brewers starter Aaron Civale up for the win, as the right-hander gave up two runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out three.
But Civale ended up having to settle for a no-decision after the Milwaukee bullpen coughed up the lead.
Jared Koenig (8-2) got the final two outs of the sixth before allowing Nick Fortes’ RBI single in the seventh, which tied the game at 3-3.
Elvis Peguero eventually took over for Koenig and surrendered a run-scoring single by Bryan De La Cruz ahead of Bell’s three-run homer, allowing Miami to take a 7-3 cushion into the bottom of the seventh.
Bryan Hoeing (1-2) ended up getting the win with three innings of scoreless relief. He followed starter Max Meyer, who made his sixth career major league start and first since April 13.
Meyer, who was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville before Saturday’s game, yielded three runs and four hits in four innings. He walked two and fanned three.
Things were going smoothly for Meyer until the fourth, when he gave up a two-out single by Willy Adames and walked Jake Bauers to set Hoskins up for his go-ahead three-run shot.
In the second, Jesus Sanchez drove in a run with a double and Jonah Bride followed with an RBI single to give the Marlins a 2-0 edge.
Jake Burger, Bell, Sanchez and Fortes had two hits apiece for Miami, which has won four of its past five.
William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell each went 2-for-4 for the Brewers.