MILWAUKEE -- The music was back blasting in the clubhouse postgame and players had smiles on their faces because a good feeling had returned to the Milwaukee Brewers for the first time awhile.
Nobody with the Brewers is pleased with the way the last two weeks has gone, but boy did they ever need a game like they had Sunday.
Everything clicked in a 11-2 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park, as Milwaukee snapped its seven-game losing streak and will head into the All-Star break with a one-game lead in the National League Central.
"It makes the break a lot more fun," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of Sunday's win. "You wouldn't think so, but it does. You're on a losing streak and if you lose today, you're not sure when the streak is going to end so you go into the break not feeling good, you come out of the break not feeling good.
"Now, we go into it feeling good and come out of it feeling good. It does a lot. I know I talk about every game being important but it does a lot for the feeling of where we are now and where we are coming out of it."
After allowing nine earned runs in his last start, Wily Peralta was on against the Cardinals. The right-hander didn't give up an earned run over seven innings, scattering three hits and striking out five without a walk.
Peralta needed just 80 pitches to get through seven innings, but he was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the seventh after he felt cramping in his legs.
"Somebody had to step up," Peralta said. "I got my chance to do it today, and I'm glad I did it for the team and for me, because I was really struggling. That's huge for us, for everybody. It lets us go into the break like that and still in first place."
The Brewers took out some of their offensive frustrations against the Cardinals on Sunday, tying a season-high with 19 hits. Every starting position player had at least one hit, including a career-high five-hit game for Elian Herrera.
Aggressive baserunning on Ryan Braun's bloop single in the first inning led to two runs, as Scooter Gennett came all the way around from first base and scored when catcher Tony Cruz fielded first baseman Matt Adams' errant throw to the plate and gunned Braun out at second.
The Cardinals scored an unearned run in the fourth inning to cut Milwaukee's lead to 2-1, but the Brewers answered in the bottom half of the frame with a two-out, two-run double from Scooter Gennett.
Starting with a solo home run from Khris Davis in the fifth, the Brewers kept adding on to their lead. Run-scoring singles from Carlos Gomez, Braun and Aramis Ramirez in the sixth opened the game up, while Gomez and Lyle Overbay added RBI hits in the seventh and eighth.
Especially after the Brewers let a 6-0 lead slip away Friday, putting the game away offensively was important.
"When you start adding on, you feel really good about it," Roenicke said. "We had the four then 'KD' hit the homer to give us five but we continued on from there. A lot of good at-bats. Luc has been frustrated so it was nice to see him get a hit there at the end. A good game and I think we needed it going into the break."
The Brewers head into the All-Star break in first place for just the fourth time in franchise history (1982, 2007, 2011), as Milwaukee ended up winning the division two of the three previous times.
Depending on how the Dodgers fare against San Diego on Sunday afternoon, the Brewers could hold the National League's best record at the break despite a stretch of 11 losses in 12 games.
Since the postseason expanded to include a Wild Card team in 1995, all but two teams that had the best record in the National League at the All-Star break made the postseason, with the 2001 Chicago Cubs and the 2007 San Diego Padres being the two exceptions.
By winning Sunday, the Brewers not only snapped their seven-game losing streak but regained the top spot in the National League Central by a game over St. Louis, 1 1/2 games over Cincinnati and 3 1/2 games up on Pittsburgh.
"We're back in first place," third baseman Aramis Ramirez said. "We know it is only one game, but it is better than being one game behind. We're a first-place club in the first half. Hopefully we come back ready to play."
Segura update: When Jean Segura will return to the Brewers is still unknown, but Roenicke said Peralta plans to get in contact with the shortstop when he returns home to the Dominican Republic for the All-Star break.
Segura left the team Saturday following the tragic death of his nine-month-old son, Janniel.
"He'll get in touch with him and then text me to let me know how he's doing," Roenicke said.
Taking advantage: With Jeff Bianchi nursing a sore elbow, Herrera got a chance Sunday to make his first career-big league start at shortstop.
Herrera, who has played just one minor-league game at shortstop since 2012, handled himself well defensively but ended up with a career day at the plate.
The 29-year-old became just the fourth shortstop in Brewers history to collect five hits in a game, joining Robin Yount, Mark Loretta and Segura.
"It's exciting. I'm happy," Herrera said. "I have to be ready every day. I say, 'Thank you, God, for this game.' I just want to do something to help my team, and today was a great game."
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