Tellez hits 2 homers against former team as Brewers top Blue Jays

Rowdy Tellez hit a pair of two-run homers against his former team, leading the Milwaukee Brewers over the Toronto Blue Jays 10-3 Sunday in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee took two of three in the series between teams meeting for the first time since 2017.

Tellez, traded from Toronto to the Brewers last July, homered in the first inning. He then connected in the second for his 13th home run.

Milwaukee scored five times in the second. Tyrone Taylor led off with a double, Jace Peterson then reached on a perfectly executed drag bunt and Jonathan Davis had an infield single that brought in a run. The Brewers also stole two bases in the inning.

After Christian Yelich had an RBI grounder, Tellez homered again off Jose Berrios (5-4), driving a pitch over the right-field wall. The drive gave the Brewers an 8-3 lead as a crowd of more than 35,000 stood and chanted Tellez's name.

Tellez has two multi-homer games this season and seven in his career.

"It's a day where the offence really picked us up and gave us a great cushion," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. "Rowdy had a big day but up and down the lineup a lot of guys did good things. They carried us today. They made pitchers' jobs much easier."

Jandel Gustave (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Chi Chi Gonzalez to get the win. Gonzalez and four Milwaukee relievers held Toronto scoreless after the first inning.

Alejandro Kirk hit a three-run homer in the Toronto first. After Tellez homered in the bottom half, a run-scoring double by Omar Narvaez later in the inning pulled Milwaukee even.

Gonzalez, making his second start for the Brewers, gave up four hits and three runs in four innings.

"We stuck to the guns with the sinker," Gonzalez said of settling down after allowing the first-inning homer. "I was able to get some calls down in the zone."

Berrios allowed eight hits and a season-high eight runs in 2 2/3 innings. He surrendered six runs over four innings in his previous start on June 20 against the Chicago White Sox.

Montoyo said he's concerned about Berrios' confidence after back-to-back rough outings.

"It's always a worry, but he's got a track record so I'm sure he's going to bounce back," Montoyo said. "He's a good big league pitcher."

The outing frustrated Berrios, who had allowed three runs over 19 innings in his career against the Brewers before Sunday.

"It was one of those days," he said. "I threw a better breaking ball but they were aggressive early with my fastball. I was throwing my fastball right in the middle and they did damage with it. I want to keep competing. I know I have great stuff and can compete at this level."