MILWAUKEE -- Onetime Brewers prospect Michael Brantley burned his former team for four hits and four RBIs in leading the Indians to a 7-5 win at Miller Park on Wednesday and a split of this two-game Interleague series.
Brantley, who has proven to be the key piece of the prospect package sent to Cleveland in the July 2008 trade for CC Sabathia, hit a tying three-run home run off Brewers starter Kyle Lohse in the third inning, a go-ahead single in fifth and finished a triple shy of the cycle as the Indians overcame a shaky start from rookie right-hander Cody Anderson. Five Indians relievers combined to hold the Brewers at bay over the final 6 1/3 innings.
 
Brantley leads Indians over Brewers 7-5
 
Adam Lind had four hits and four RBIs for the Brewers, who brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Lohse endured another poor outing at a time during which his hold of a spot in Milwaukee's starting rotation is tenuous. He surrendered five earned runs on 10 hits, including home runs for Brantley and Francisco Lindor.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Striking first: Starved for runs one night earlier, Cleveland jumped on the board early against Lohse. Lindor, the rookie shortstop, worked a full count and then drove a pitch over the right-field wall for a solo homer in the first inning. For Lohse, it marked the 17th time in 20 starts that he has allowed at least one home run.
Counterattack: Anderson allowed three runs total in his first four Major League starts (30 1/3 innings). The rookie right-hander then allowed three runs in his first inning against Milwaukee. With two outs, Lind torched a two-run homer (No. 16 on the season, tying Ryan Braun for the team lead) and Jean Segura later chipped in an RBI single to put the Brewers up, 3-1.
Brantley bucks trend: Hitting with runners in scoring position has been a team-wide issue for Cleveland, though Brantley (.349 in 86 at-bats entering Wednesday) has been an exception. In the third, Brantley drilled a three-run homer off Lohse to pull the game into a 4-4 tie. In the fifth, the outfielder came through with an RBI single to give the Tribe a 5-4 lead. As a team, Cleveland went 5-for-11 with RISP in the win.
Last gasp: Jonathan Lucroy and Lind doubled off Indians closer Cody Allen in the ninth inning as the Brewers cut the deficit to 7-5 and brought the winning run to the plate with one out for left fielder Khris Davis. He worked to a 3-1 count before hitting a bouncer to third base that went for a game-ending double play, snapping Milwaukee's four-game winning streak.
TWO THE HARD WAY A day after turning four double plays in Tuesday's win over the Indians, the Brewers turned four more in consecutive innings from the second through the fifth -- including one of the rare 2-6-3 variety. Batting with one out and runners at first and second base in the fourth inning, Indians reliever Austin Adams thought he had bunted foul. But the baseball actually stayed fair, so Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy threw to Segura covering third for the second out of the inning, and Segura trotted across the diamond before tossing the baseball to Lind at first base to end the inning. Here's the particularly odd part: Replays showed that Lucroy inadvertently tagged Adams on the shoulder while fielding the bunt, which, if noticed by home-plate umpire Mark Carlson, would have negated the force play at third.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS While the Indians had four double plays Wednesday, only three were of the ground-ball variety. The last time Cleveland grounded into at least three double plays in back-to-back games was Aug. 6-7, 2012, against the Twins.
Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com
 

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