MILWAUKEE _ It had been 14 years since the Boston Red Sox last visited Miller Park.
They quickly wondered why they rushed back.
Building off a five-run first inning, the Milwaukee Brewers pounded the visitors from the American League East, making off with an 11-7 interleague victory that made the home team work until the final out.
Keon Broxton led the charge, beginning with a two-run homer that capped the big first inning. Before the night was done, Broxton added a single, triple and hit by pitch to finish with four runs batted in and three runs scored.
The Brewers have been first-inning beasts all season and that didn't change against the Red Sox. After Jonathan Villar drew a leadoff walk from Drew Pomeranz, Eric Thames crushed a 1-0 fastball out to right-center for his 13th homer of the season and a 2-1 lead (Mookie Betts opened the game with a homer).
Some wondered how the left-handed-hitting Thames would fare against left-handed pitchers but they have stopped wondering. It was his fifth homer off a lefty in only 26 at-bats.
Ryan Braun, back in the lineup after missing a week with an arm issue, came close to following Thames with another homer, blasting a double off the wall in left-center. Travis Shaw then struck a blow against his former club, dumping an RBI single to shallow left.
Pomeranz retired the next two hitters, but Broxton made it a five-run inning with an opposite-field, two-run homer to right. Broxton was batting .119 through 14 games and people were asking about his job. Since then, he is batting .383.
Given a 6-1 lead after four innings, Brewers starter Wily Peralta could not survive a three-run fifth and did not qualify for a victory in allowing Boston to get back in the game. It was not a good sign for Peralta, who has pitched poorly in three of his last four outings.
After the Red Sox got back within 6-4, the Brewers put a three-run rally together against Heath Hembree in the sixth to provide more breathing room. Orlando Arcia delivered his second run-scoring hit and pinch-hitter Nick Franklin delivered a two-run double.
And the hits kept coming for the Brewers. Broxton kept his big night going with a two-run triple to right field in the seventh off Ben Taylor. Last week in St. Louis, Broxton fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. This time, he was missing only a double.
