PHOENIX (Interstat) — Ildemaro Vargas delivered a go-ahead double in the eighth inning that lifted the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, July 4, 2026, before 33,154 at Chase Field.

The Diamondbacks evened a four-game series at one win apiece after the Brewers had taken the opener 7-4 in 11 innings Friday. Arizona improved to 44-44 on the season, while Milwaukee, which had won three of its previous four games, fell to 54-33.

Merrill Kelly (6-8) pitched five innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts to earn the win. Brandon Woodruff (2-2) took the loss, having surrendered three runs in the first inning on a three-run home run by Adrian Del Castillo. Paul Sewald recorded his 20th save, working a perfect ninth inning except for a solo home run by Jackson Chourio.

The Brewers outhit the Diamondbacks 12-4 but could not overcome the early deficit and a late Arizona rally.

Arizona struck first in the bottom of the first inning. After Ketel Marte grounded out and Geraldo Perdomo struck out, Corbin Carroll drew a walk. Gabriel Moreno followed with a single to center field, putting runners at the corners. Del Castillo then launched a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall for his fifth home run of the season, scoring Carroll and Moreno to give the Diamondbacks a 3-0 lead.

Milwaukee responded quickly. In the top of the first, Brice Turang doubled to left field and advanced to third on a Christian Yelich groundout, but Jake Bauers and William Contreras struck out to leave him stranded.

The Brewers loaded the bases in the fourth inning on a Contreras single, a walk to Andrew Vaughn and a walk to Cooper Pratt, but Joey Ortiz lined out to left fielder Max Kepler to end the threat.

Milwaukee finally broke through in the fifth. Turang doubled to center field for his second double of the game. Yelich then homered to right-center field, his sixth of the season, scoring Turang to tie the game at 3-3. The Brewers continued to threaten with a Contreras single and a Garrett Mitchell double that put runners at second and third, but Vaughn struck out and Sal Frelick grounded out to end the inning.

The game remained tied through the sixth and seventh innings. Kelly exited after the fifth, having allowed eight hits but only the two runs in the fifth. The Brewers’ bullpen, which had been sharp in recent outings, kept the Diamondbacks scoreless in the sixth and seventh.

In the eighth, the Diamondbacks manufactured the decisive run. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. pinch-hit for Kepler and singled to left field. Pinch-runner Jorge Barrosa replaced Gurriel. Vargas then doubled to left field, scoring Barrosa to give Arizona a 4-3 lead. Vargas finished 1 for 3 with one RBI.

The Brewers threatened in the ninth. After Turang and Yelich struck out, Chourio homered to left-center field, his 13th of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-3. But Contreras grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

The Diamondbacks’ offense managed only four hits, but Del Castillo’s three-run homer accounted for nearly all of their run production. The Brewers, despite collecting 12 hits, left runners in scoring position in multiple innings. Milwaukee went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, while Arizona was 1 for 5.

The game lasted 2 hours, 32 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Milwaukee Brewers 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Milwaukee with a 59.90 percent probability to win. Milwaukee had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 7 went over the over/under line of 9.