NEW YORK — Eric Thames hit his first home run in three weeks, Keon Broxton also went deep against an ineffective Jacob deGrom, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the New York Mets 7-1 Wednesday night for just their third win in 10 games.
Released by the Mets following a 50-game minor league drug suspension in 2009, Junior Guerra (1-0) defeated New York for the first time. He allowed four hits in six scoreless innings, struck out four and walked three, baffling batters with his splitter.
A 32-year-old right-hander who went 9-3 last year in his first season with the Brewers, Guerra hurt his right calf while running to first on a bunt during his opening day start and did not return until Friday. He had stints in Mexico, Italy and Venezuela, and with Wichita of the independent American Association before making his big league debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2015.
Eric Sogard walked on full counts in his first three plate appearances, then singled and flied out. The Brewers, surprise leaders in the NL Central, are 5-0 when he bats leadoff.
In his previous outing, deGrom (4-2) threw 118 pitches and became the first Mets starter this year to reach the ninth inning. Against the Brewers, he allowed seven runs, eight hits and five walks in four innings, raising his ERA from 3.23 to 3.97. The right-hander has given up multiple homers in four starts, double his 2016 total.
New York had been trying to stretch a winning streak to four for the first time early April. The Mets went 10-14 in April and 13-14 in May, the first time since 2013 they had losing records in both months.
Thames hit his 13th homer on May 9, then was slowed by a hamstring injury and strep throat. He was in an 0-for-19 skid entering Tuesday, when he singled, tripled and walked twice. He reached four times for the second straight night, homering on a changeup in the first for a 2-0 lead, doubling and walking twice.
Broxton homered leading off the second for a 3-0 lead, and the Brewers broke open the game in a four-run fourth. Jesus Aguilar had an RBI double on a drive that center fielder Curtis Granderson nearly caught with a dive — the ball hit the heel of his glove and popped out. Hernan Perez hit a two-run single, and Manny Pina had an RBI groundout. Before the inning, Milwaukee had been 2 for 27 with runners in scoring position in the series.
Rob Scahill allowed an RBI double to Michael Conforto in the ninth.