MILWAUKEE (Interstat) — The Milwaukee Brewers overcame a sluggish start Saturday afternoon at American Family Field, using a four-run sixth inning to seize control and defeat the Colorado Rockies 8-5.

The Brewers improved to 65-39, while the Rockies dropped to 42-64, before a crowd of 34,328. The game lasted 2 hours, 44 minutes.

Milwaukee starter Robert Gasser earned the win, improving to 3-4, after allowing two earned runs on five hits over six innings, striking out four. Rockies starter Ryan Feltner took the loss, falling to 3-5, after surrendering six runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings, with three walks and five strikeouts. Trevor Megill recorded his 17th save, working a third of an inning in the ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one.

The game was scoreless through the first inning. Colorado threatened in the top of the first with a bunt groundout from Jake McCarthy, a groundout from Kyle Karros, and a groundout from Cole Carrigg. Milwaukee answered in the bottom half with a flyout from Christian Yelich, a single from Jackson Chourio, a bunt single from Brice Turang that advanced Chourio to second, and a double play grounder from William Contreras that ended the inning.

The Rockies continued to struggle at the plate in the top of the second, with Hunter Goodman striking out, TJ Rumfield grounding out, and Willi Castro popping out. Milwaukee broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second. Jake Bauers led off with a walk, then advanced to third on a groundout from Garrett Mitchell. Luis Lara drove in Bauers with a sacrifice fly to right field, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead. Cooper Pratt followed with a two-run home run to left-center field, his second of the season, extending the lead to 2-0. David Hamilton flied out to end the inning.

Colorado went down in order in the top of the third, with Braxton Fulford striking out, Tyler Freeman grounding out softly to Gasser, and Ezequiel Tovar singling to center field before McCarthy was called out on strikes. Milwaukee’s offense stalled in the bottom of the third, with Yelich grounding out, Chourio grounding out, and Turang striking out.

The Rockies finally got on the board in the top of the fourth. Karros led off with a single to center field, and Carrigg followed with a double to left field, advancing Karros to third. Goodman then singled to left field, scoring Karros and Carrigg and tying the game at 2-2. Goodman advanced to second on the play. Rumfield grounded out, Castro flied out to right, and Fulford flied out to right to end the inning.

Milwaukee answered in the bottom of the fourth. Contreras was called out on strikes after a challenge upheld the call. Bauers singled to center field, then Mitchell flied out sharply to center. Lara singled to left field, sending Bauers to second. Pratt singled to right field, deflected by second baseman Castro, and Bauers scored to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead. Lara advanced to third. Hamilton struck out swinging to end the inning.

Colorado threatened in the top of the fifth. Freeman singled sharply to center field, and Tovar sacrificed bunted to advance Freeman to second. McCarthy lined out sharply to right, and Karros lined out to third base, stranding Freeman. Milwaukee’s offense went quietly in the bottom of the fifth. Yelich doubled to left field, deflected by center fielder Carrigg, for his 17th double of the season. Chourio struck out swinging, Turang lined out to center, and Contreras grounded out to shortstop.

The Rockies’ offense went down in order again in the top of the sixth. Carrigg flied out to right, Goodman was called out on strikes, and Rumfield popped out softly to Gasser in foul territory.

The Brewers seized control in the bottom of the sixth, sending nine batters to the plate. Contreras singled softly to third baseman Karros, and Bauers singled to left field, advancing Contreras to second. Mitchell walked, loading the bases. Lara then doubled to left field, scoring Contreras and Bauers and sending Mitchell to third, making the score 5-2. Pratt followed with a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Mitchell and extending the lead to 6-2. Hamilton singled to left field, sending Lara to third. Yelich struck out swinging. Chourio grounded out to third baseman Karros, but Lara scored on the play, giving Milwaukee a 7-2 lead.

Colorado failed to mount a comeback in the top of the seventh. Castro struck out swinging, Brett Sullivan popped out to third, and Freeman grounded out to third. Milwaukee went quietly in the bottom of the seventh. Turang doubled to right field for his 25th double of the season, but Contreras was called out on strikes, Bauers was called out on strikes, and Mitchell struck out swinging.

The Rockies attempted to rally in the top of the eighth. Tovar popped out to shortstop, McCarthy flied out to center, Karros walked, and Carrigg walked, putting two runners on. Goodman popped out to pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who had entered in relief. McCullers, who pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowed one hit and struck out one, contributing to the Brewers’ bullpen success.

Milwaukee added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Lara walked, Pratt singled to left field, deflected by Karros, sending Lara to third. Hamilton struck out swinging. Yelich then drove in Lara with a sacrifice fly to center field, giving the Brewers an 8-2 lead. Chourio flied out to center to end the inning.

The Rockies made one final push in the top of the ninth. Rumfield walked, Castro struck out swinging, and Sullivan reached on a fielder’s choice, with Rumfield advancing to second on a throwing error by first baseman Bauers. Freeman popped out to second baseman Turang. Tovar walked, loading the bases. McCarthy then singled to center field, scoring Rumfield and Sullivan and cutting the deficit to 8-4. Tovar advanced to second. Karros singled to center field, scoring Tovar and making the score 8-5. McCarthy advanced to second. Carrigg struck out swinging to end the game.

The most critical portion of the game was the Brewers’ four-run sixth inning, which turned a 3-2 nail-biter into a 7-2 cushion. Luis Lara’s two-run double was the pivotal hit, and Cooper Pratt’s sacrifice fly added another run. That outburst allowed Milwaukee to withstand Colorado’s three-run ninth and secure the victory.

Lara finished 2 for 2 with three RBIs, including his two-run double and a sacrifice fly. Pratt went 3 for 3 with a home run, three RBIs, and a sacrifice fly. Bauers was 2 for 3 with a walk. Yelich had one hit and one RBI. Chourio went 1 for 5. Mitchell was 0 for 3 with a walk. Hamilton was 1 for 4. Contreras had one hit.

For the Rockies, McCarthy had one hit and two RBIs. Karros had two hits and one RBI. Carrigg had one double. Goodman had one hit and two RBIs. Tovar had one hit and a walk. Freeman had one hit. The Rockies’ offense managed only seven hits total.

The Brewers’ victory avenged a 5-2 loss to the Rockies the day before and gave them a split in the first two games of the series. Milwaukee’s previous results included a 4-3 win over the New York Mets on July 22 and an 8-4 win over the Miami Marlins on July 18. Colorado had lost eight of its last 10 games coming in, including a 3-2 loss to Washington on July 22.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Milwaukee 6, Colorado 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Milwaukee a 76.9 percent probability to win. The Brewers were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 13 went under the over-under line of 8.5.