ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Aaron Ashby tied Atlanta’s Chris Sale for the major league lead with his sixth win, backed by Andrew Vaughn’s three-run homer in a four-run first inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium III.

Rookie Brandon Sproat started for Milwaukee and gave up only one hit over four innings, walking three and striking out five. Ashby entered to open the sixth and pitched two hitless innings, allowing his only runner on a walk, as five Brewers pitchers combined on a four-hitter. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Milwaukee and evened the three-game series at one win apiece after the Cardinals won Monday’s opener 6-3. Tuesday’s scheduled game between the teams was postponed.

Milwaukee jumped on Cardinals starter Andre Pallante early. With one out in the first, Brice Turang singled to right field. William Contreras was then hit by a pitch, putting runners at first and second. Jake Bauers lined a single to left that scored Turang and advanced Contreras to second. Vaughn then crushed a 1-0 pitch to left center field for his first home run of the season, clearing the bases and giving the Brewers a 4-0 lead. Pallante settled down after that, allowing no further damage in the inning after Tyler Black lined out to left.

The Brewers added a run in the fifth without the benefit of a hit. Joey Ortiz singled to lead off and moved to second on a Sal Frelick single. After Jackson Chourio flied out, Turang walked to load the bases. Contreras struck out on a foul tip, but Pallante got out of the inning when David Hamilton grounded out to first. However, Pallante’s pitch count had climbed, and he was lifted after six innings having allowed eight hits and five earned runs, walking four and striking out three.

Milwaukee tacked on an insurance run in the ninth against Cardinals reliever Matt Svanson. With two outs, Frelick singled to right and Chourio doubled to right, scoring Frelick. Turang then walked, but Contreras grounded out to third to end the inning, leaving the Brewers with a 6-0 lead.

St. Louis finally broke through in the eighth against Milwaukee reliever Trevor Megill. Victor Scott II led off with a single to center. After JJ Wetherholt and Iván Herrera struck out, Alec Burleson singled to right, scoring Scott and cutting the deficit to 6-1. Jordan Walker then grounded out to end the inning.

The Cardinals mounted a threat in the ninth against Abner Uribe. Nolan Gorman doubled to right to start the inning and moved to third on a Masyn Winn groundout. José Fermín then reached on a fielding error by shortstop Joey Ortiz, allowing Gorman to score and making it 6-2. César Prieto followed and grounded into a double play, second baseman Turang to shortstop Ortiz to first baseman Bauers, ending the game.

The double play was the second turned by the Brewers’ defense. St. Louis grounded into two double plays overall, the first coming in the fourth inning when José Fermín hit into a twin killing after Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman had walked.

Milwaukee’s pitching staff worked efficiently. Sproat, making his fifth start of the season, threw 67 pitches and retired the side in order in the third and fourth innings. Ashby followed with a perfect sixth and seventh, striking out one. DL Hall tossed a perfect eighth, and Uribe worked the ninth, allowing one earned run on one hit while striking out none.

Sproat was the top star for Milwaukee, rebounding from two consecutive losses. In his previous outing April 29 against Arizona, he allowed four earned runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings in a 6-2 defeat. On April 23 at Detroit, he gave up three earned runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 5-4 loss.

Vaughn finished 2-for-4 with a home run and three runs batted in. Chourio went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Bauers and Frelick each had two hits, and Turang walked twice and scored once.

For St. Louis, Pallante took the loss, falling to 3-3. He struck out three and walked four. Jared Shuster tossed two scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out one. Svanson gave up one earned run on two hits over one inning, striking out two.

The Cardinals managed only four hits. Iván Herrera doubled in the first inning but was left stranded. Burleson had the only RBI among St. Louis batters. Gorman doubled in the ninth and scored on the error.

Attendance was 25,772. The game lasted 2 hours, 50 minutes.

Milwaukee improved to 19-16, while St. Louis fell to 21-15. The Brewers next return home to face the New York Yankees in a three-game series starting Friday. The Cardinals travel to San Diego for a four-game set beginning Thursday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis Cardinals 7, Milwaukee Brewers 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Milwaukee with a 56.00 percent probability to win. Milwaukee had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5.