MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Chourio became the youngest player in six years to hit a home run but it wasn’t enough for the Milwaukee Brewers, who lost to the Minnesota Twins 7-3 on Wednesday as Ryan Jeffers hit a tiebreaking three-run drive to cap a five-run seventh inning.
Rhys Hoskins also went deep for the Brewers, who lost their first game after a 4-0 start. Minnesota’s Alex Kiriloff went 4 for 4 with two singles, a double and a triple.
Jeffers had four RBIs for the Twins.
Chourio led off the fifth by connecting on Daniel Duarte’s 1-1 slider for a 402-foot drive. Chourio, who signed an $82 million, eight-year contract during the offseason, is batting .350 with a hit in each of his first five major league games.
“I think off the bat, I knew it was gone there,” Chourio said through an interpreter. “Thanks to God for being able to put a good swing on it.”
At 20 years, 23 days, Chourio is the youngest player to homer since Juan Soto did it as a 19-year-old in 2018. Chourio is the youngest Brewer to homer since a 19-year-old Gary Sheffield in 1988.
“Day by day, you notice more and more that Jackson belongs in the big leagues,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
After Chourio gave the Brewers a 3-1 lead, the Twins rallied against Milwaukee’s bullpen.
Kiriloff and Byron Buxton opened the seventh with back-to-back doubles off Joel Payamps (0-1), and Carlos Correa’s one-out single drove in the tying run. With two outs and two on, Jeffers got ahead 2-0 in the count against Bryse Wilson, fouled off four straight pitches and hit a 376-foot drive over the left-field wall to end an 0-for-13 slump. The Twins had not gone deep since Royce Lewis in the first inning of last week’s opener.
Jeffers added an RBI single in the ninth off Thyago Vieira.
“It’s a big win for us,” Jeffers said. “I know it’s game five, but I feel like we needed that win going home, not to lose three straight, (to) split the series here and kind of get the offense clicking.”
Duarte (1-0), Brock Stewart, Griffin Jax and Steven Okert combined to retire 15 of the Brewers’ last 16 batters. Chourio’s homer was Milwaukee’s last hit of the day.
Milwaukee’s Joe Ross made his first major league appearance since August 2021 and Minnesota’s Chris Paddack made his first start since May 2022. Both pitchers have undergone Tommy John surgery twice.
Ross struck out three and allowed two hits but walked five in 3 2/3 shutout innings. Paddack gave up two runs and six hits in four innings.
“I’m very blessed to be given another opportunity to prove myself,” Paddack said. “I just went out there and enjoyed the moment and enjoyed the game. My family was here. It’s the small things in life that we sometimes tend to forget.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers RHP Trevor Megill went on the seven-day concussion list, retroactive to Sunday, after fainting while recovering from a apparent case of food poisoning. The Brewers recalled RHP JB Bukauskas from Triple-A Nashville.
UP NEXT
Twins: Open their home schedule with a three-game series against Cleveland. Scheduled starters for Friday’s opener are RHP Pablo López (1-0, 1.29 ERA) for the Twins and RHP Tanner Bibee (0-0, 6.75) for the Guardians.
Brewers: Scheduled starting pitchers for Friday’s series opener against Seattle are RHP Freddy Peralta (1-0, 1.50) for the Brewers and RHP Logan Gilbert (0-0, 1.29) for the Mariners.