ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Milwaukee Brewers got 17 hits -- and an immediate boost of confidence.
Bill Hall drove in three runs, Brady Clark tied a career high with four hits and the Brewers beat the Anaheim Angels 12-2 Wednesday night to knock them out of first place in the AL West.
The win came one night after Milwaukee defeated Anaheim 1-0 in 17 innings and tied a major league record by striking out 26 times.
"The biggest thing is that guys who were down on themselves got some key hits and big hits," Brewers cleanup hitter Lyle Overbay said. "A couple of those guys have been pressing because they've had limited at-bats, so they've wanted to get in there and show what they can do. But tonight it worked out well for them."
Overbay hit a two-run double, Keith Ginter capped a five-run eighth with a two-run single and Geoff Jenkins had two RBI after striking out a major league record-tying six times Tuesday night.
Victor Santos (4-2) gave up 13 hits in six innings, including Vladimir Guerrero's 15th home run, which tied him for the AL lead.
But Santos improved his road record to 4-0, after he entered this season 1-6 away from home.
"I pitch with the same confidence on the road or at home, but we've hit better when I've pitched on the road," said Santos, also aided by three double plays.
"I gave up 13 hits, but part of that was being aggressive in the zone. They were swinging early in the count and putting the ball in play and good things were happening for them. But when I got in a jam, I made the key pitch to make them roll it over for a double play."
Dave Burba pitched three scoreless innings for his second save, sending the Angels to their fifth straight loss and 10th in 14 games. They slipped a game behind Oakland in the AL West, the first time they haven't held at least a share of the top spot since May 3 -- despite having several of their regulars on the disabled list.
"Injuries have taken their toll, but I'm not surprised that we were in first place this long because we have a great bunch of guys in here," losing pitcher Jarrod Washburn said.
"The team that caught us has some injuries, too, so hopefully we'll get everyone back here pretty soon and be able to play at full strength. You don't always have that luxury, so you have to find a way to win whatever the circumstances are."
Center fielder Raul Mondesi was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a torn right quadriceps. But Tim Salmon, activated late Tuesday night after missing 35 games because of a sore left knee, was 3-for-3 with a walk.
"It's always a positive when you get one of your big guys back healthy and on the field, and to have a night like that," Washburn said. "It would have been nicer if we got a 'W' out of it."
Washburn (7-3) allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings. He's 0-2 with a 7.77 ERA in his last four starts after winning each of his previous six outings.
Overbay drove the left-hander's 0-2 pitch to right-center for a two-run double in the first, after a bunt single by Clark and a ground-rule double by Jenkins. Hall added a two-out RBI single.
Jeff DaVanon led off the second with a bunt single for the first of his three hits and advanced to second on Salmon's single before Scott Podsednik robbed Casey Kotchman of extra bases with a diving catch in left-center.
Santos thought he was out of the inning when Shane Halter hit what appeared to be a double-play grounder to shortstop. But second baseman Junior Spivey made a wild relay throw to first, allowing DaVanon to score.
The run ended a franchise record-tying 33-inning scoreless drought by the Angels, stretching back to Chone Figgins' two-run homer against Cleveland's Joe Dawley in the third inning of Saturday's 3-2 loss. Their other 33-inning drought was in August 1963.
Clark, whose other four-hit game was last July 26 at Colorado, had an RBI double in the sixth to make it 7-2.
"It seems like every time he's out there and I'm out there, he's getting hits," Santos said. "He's been a tough out all year. His average is a little down, but he's hitting a lot of balls hard."
Notes
- Spivey's error was his fourth in a span of 11 innings.
- Anaheim's Shane Halter ended an 0-for-17 drought with a single in the sixth.
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