MILWAUKEE _ Another month in the books and the Milwaukee Brewers are still in the hunt for October.
The Brewers concluded August with another victory over a tough opponent Thursday night, pulling away to topple the runaway Washington Nationals, 6-3, at Miller Park.
Right-hander Zach Davies went seven strong innings to win his 16th game, tying Arizona's Zack Greinke for the major-league lead, and Jonathan Villar continued his late-season revival with three hits, including a two-run home run.
The victory allowed the Brewers to remain 3 { games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs, who beat Atlanta at home, in the NL Central. In a race that could prove to be their path to the postseason, they pulled within 2 { games of idle Colorado for the second wild-card berth.
The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off lefty Gio Gonzalez on an unusual sacrifice fly. Hernan Perez, who doubled with one out and stole third, scored when Ryan Braun fouled out down the right-field line, with second baseman Daniel Murphy making a running catch. Perez tagged and came home, scoring when Murphy's one-hop throw was not handled by catcher Matt Wieters.
The Brewers weren't charged with any errors in the third but didn't make plays that led to two runs. Michael Taylor led off with a sharp grounder down the third-base line that Perez gloved but first baseman Jesus Aguilar could not handle his one-hop throw.
After Gonzalez bunted Taylor to second, Trea Turner ripped a RBI double to left-center to tie the game. Turner stole third, getting in safely when Perez couldn't handle the one-hop throw from catcher Stephen Vogt, then scored on Jayson Werth's grounder to short.
The Brewers came right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to go back on top. Davies led off with a single and Villar bunted for a hit. Perez struck out and Braun bounced into a force at second before Domingo Santana walked to load the bases.
Aguilar, who has had a knack for delivering big hits, yanked a single through the left side to send home two runs and make it a 3-2 game.
The late-season revival of Villar continued in the fifth inning. After Davies drew a leadoff walk, Villar drove an opposite-field home run to right that put the Brewers ahead, 5-2. It was only the second homer this season from the right side of the plate for the switch-hitting Villar, who had a .290 slugging percentage batting righty.
Gonzalez, who sported a sparkling 0.79 ERA over his previous five starts, departed after six innings, having allowed eight hits and five runs. It was the most runs he allowed since Baltimore scored six against him on May 8 at Camden Yards.
