Christian Yelich had a two-run homer and Freddy Peralta allowed one run over six innings for his National League-best 17th victory to pace the Milwaukee Brewers past the visiting Los Angeles Angels, 9-2, on Tuesday in the opener of the three-game series.
Peralta (17-6) allowed one run, a solo homer, on two hits, striking out 10 and walking two in a dominant 94-pitch outing.
Yelich put the Brewers up 5-0 in the fourth with his 29th homer, a two-run shot to center, chasing rookie starter Caden Dana (0-2).
Denzer Guzman and Christian Moore had solo homers for the Angels (69-82), who dropped their fifth straight.
Milwaukee (92-59), which clinched a playoff berth over the weekend and has the best overall record in the majors, maintained its five-game lead in the NL Central over the Cubs, who won 4-1 at Pittsburgh.
The Brewers scored in each of the first four innings for a 5-0 lead.
The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the first when Jackson Chourio walked, advanced on a wild pitch and came home on Yelich’s double.
Milwaukee added a run in the second when Caleb Durbin singled to open, stole second, advanced on Blake Perkins’ infield single, and scored on Sal Frelick’s sacrifice fly.
The Brewers made it 3-0 in the third on singles by William Contreras, Andrew Vaughn and Durbin.
Frelick drew a one-out walk in the fourth. After Chourio struck out, Yelich sent a 3-2 pitch 409 feet to center.
Guzman, called up Saturday, made it 5-1 in the fifth with his first career home run.
Moore made it 5-2 in the seventh with a one-out homer, his sixth, off Grant Anderson.
Milwaukee answered in the bottom half when Brice Turang walked with two outs and Vaughn doubled.
The Brewers added three runs in the eighth on an RBI single by Chourio and two-run single by Contreras.
