ANAHEIM, Calif. (Interstat) — Shane Drohan pitched six effective innings and Jake Bauers drove in three runs as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-2 on Friday night at Angel Stadium.

Drohan (6-4) allowed two runs on four hits and struck out seven without walking a batter. He retired the first 10 hitters he faced before Zach Neto singled in the fourth inning. The left-hander worked around a two-out single by Nolan Schanuel in that inning, then gave up a two-run homer to Denzer Guzman in the fifth but otherwise kept the Angels in check. Grant Anderson, Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe combined for three scoreless innings of relief, with Anderson getting the final out of the seventh and Megill and Uribe each working clean frames.

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Jake Bauers singled with one out and Garrett Mitchell followed with another single. After Luis Lara struck out, David Hamilton flied out. Cooper Pratt then singled to left field, scoring Bauers, and the ball got past left fielder Jose Siri, allowing Mitchell to advance to third and Pratt to second. Brice Turang ended the inning with a fly out.

Milwaukee broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning. Cooper Pratt led off with a walk. Turang then homered to center field, his 16th of the season, scoring Pratt and giving the Brewers a 3-0 lead. Jackson Chourio singled, and after Christian Yelich flied out, William Contreras walked to put runners on first and second. Bauers followed with a three-run homer to right field, his 19th, extending the lead to 6-0. Garrett Mitchell doubled, Luis Lara grounded out to move Mitchell to third, and David Hamilton flied out to end the inning.

The Angels answered in the bottom of the fifth. Vaughn Grissom singled on a sharp ground ball to left field. Jo Adell struck out, but Guzman homered to center field, his fifth of the year, cutting the lead to 6-2. Travis d’Arnaud grounded out, Jose Siri walked, and Zach Neto struck out to end the inning.

Milwaukee’s offense finished with nine hits. Bauers was 2-for-4 with the home run and three RBIs. Turang was 1-for-3 with the two-run homer, a walk and two RBIs. Mitchell doubled and walked, and Chourio, Contreras, Pratt and Yelich each contributed hits or walks. The Brewers stranded runners in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings but never threatened to lose the lead.

The Angels managed four hits as a team. Neto and Schanuel each singled in the fourth inning, Grissom singled in the fifth, and Guzman’s homer accounted for the only extra-base hit. Los Angeles struck out 13 times overall, with Drohan recording seven of those strikeouts.

Ryan Johnson (2-6) took the loss for the Angels. He allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out four over 4 1/3 innings. José Fermin relieved Johnson and pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing one hit and one earned run while striking out four. Luke Murphy and Sam Bachman each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

The victory improved Milwaukee’s record to 69-41, and the Brewers bounced back from a 16-3 loss at San Francisco on Wednesday. The Angels dropped to 42-68 with their fourth consecutive loss.

Drohan, who had struggled in his previous start when he allowed five earned runs over six innings against Colorado, rebounded with his sixth win of the season. He threw 90 pitches, with 20 strikes and 70 balls according to the game summary, but the final line showed no walks and seven strikeouts. The Angels did not score against him until the fifth inning.

The game lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes before a crowd of 43,720 at Angel Stadium.

The Brewers will send a starter to the mound for the second game of the three-game series on Saturday against the Angels. Milwaukee plays the Angels again on Sunday before returning home to face Pittsburgh on Monday. The Angels will host the Brewers again Saturday and Sunday before traveling to Baltimore on Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Milwaukee Brewers 6, Los Angeles Angels 4. Interstatl’s ELO system had projected Milwaukee with a 68.80 percent probability to win. Milwaukee had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 8 went over the over/under line of 9.5.