Yelich, Hoskins and Frelick homer as the Brewers defeat the Tigers 5-1

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich, Rhys Hoskins and Sal Frelick all hit home runs Wednesday and the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-1.

Milwaukee took two of three in the series.

The Brewers pushed across a run in the second off Keider Montero (0-1) when Garrett Mitchell tripled with one out and scored on Oliver Dunn’s sacrifice bunt. Dunn became the first Brewers player to use a “torpedo” bat during the plate appearance.

Yelich connected for a solo home run with one out in the third. Hoskins hit a two-run blast later in the inning to push Milwaukee’s lead to 4-0.

José Quintana (2-0), making his second start of the season after pitching seven shoutout innings in his Brewers debut on Friday, held the Tigers to one run and four hits over 5 2/3 innings. The 36-year-old left-hander, who signed as a free agent on March 5, surrendered a solo home run to Spencer Torkelson with one-out in the sixth. He struck out four and walked three.

Frelick’s lead-off homer against Montero in the Brewers half of the sixth, his first of the season, gave Milwaukee a 5-1 lead.

Montero, who made his season debut for the Tigers after being recalled from Triple-A Toledo, gave up five runs in five innings and departed after two batters in the sixth. He walked one and had eight strikeouts.

Four Brewers relievers combined for 3 1/3 shutout innings.

Quintana walked three batters in the first inning but kept the Tigers off the board. After issuing a lead-off walk to Justyn-Henry Malloy, Quintana got Gleyber Torres to ground into a double play. Quintana walked the next two batters before Riley Greene grounded out to end the inning.

Milwaukee catcher William Contreras extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a first-inning single.

RHP Reese Olson (1-1, 6.00 ERA) starts for the Tigers in the opener of a four-game series against the Royals in Detroit on Thursday.

RHP Freddy Peralta (1-1, 2.31) will take the mound on Friday when the Brewers start a three-game set at home against the Athletics.

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Milwaukee Brewers' Rhys Hoskins reacts after his home run against the Detroit Tigers during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Keider Montero throws to the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers' Garrett Mitchell (5) reacts after his triple against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers' Rhys Hoskins hits a home run against the Detroit Tigers during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers' Sal Frelick (10) reacts with Rhys Hoskins after Felick's home run against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jose Quintana throws against the Detroit Tigers during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich watches his home run against the Detroit Tigers during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Australia’s most decorated living war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith on Friday lost his appeal of a civil court ruling that blamed him for unlawfully killing four unarmed Afghans. Meanwhile a veterans’ advocate called on prosecutors to speed up their investigations of war crime allegations in Afghanistan that have left innocent soldiers under a cloud of suspicion.

Three federal court judges unanimously rejected his appeal of a judge’s ruling in 2023 that Roberts-Smith was not defamed by newspaper articles published in 2018 that accused him of a range of war crimes.

Justice Anthony Besanko had ruled that the accusations were substantially true to a civil standard and Roberts-Smith was responsible for four of the six unlawful deaths of noncombatants he had been accused of.

Roberts-Smith later said he would immediately seek to appeal the decision in the High Court, his final appeal option.

“I continue to maintain my innocence and deny these egregious, spiteful allegations,” Roberts-Smith said in a statement.

“Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant, and I believe one day soon the truth will prevail,” he added.

Tory Maguire, an executive of Nine Entertainment that published the articles Roberts-Smith claimed were untrue, welcomed the ruling as an “emphatic win.”

“Today is also a great day for investigative journalism and underscores why it remains highly valued by the Australian people,” Maguire said.

The marathon 110-day trial is estimated to have cost 25 million Australian dollars ($16 million) in legal fees that Roberts-Smith will likely be liable to pay.

Roberts-Smith has been financially supported by Australian billionaire Kerry Stokes whose media business Seven West Media is a rival of Nine Entertainment.

Reporter Nick McKenzie, who was personally sued, said Roberts-Smith must be held accountable before the criminal justice system.

Roberts-Smith has never faced criminal charges, which must be proven to the higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt.

Only one Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign has been charged with a war crime, former Special Air Service Regiment soldier Oliver Schulz.

Schulz has been charged with murdering an unarmed Afghan, Dad Mohammad, in May 2012 by shooting him three time as the alleged victim, aged in his mid-20s, lay on his back in long grass in Uruzgan province.

Schulz was charged in March 2023. He has pleaded not guilty but has yet to stand trial. Schulz is currently taking part in a committal hearing that will decide whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial.

An Australian military report released in 2020 found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians. The report recommended 19 current and former soldiers face criminal investigation. It’s not clear whether Roberts-Smith was one of them.

Police are working with the Office of the Special Investigator, an Australian investigation agency established in 2021, to build cases against elite SAS and Commando Regiments troops who served in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

The Australian Special Air Service Association, which advocates for veterans, has called for the government to establish a time limit for the Office of the Special Investigator rather than allow the allegations to drag on for decades.

“The whole process of dealing with these allegations needs to be completed at best speed,” the association’s chairman Martin Hamilton-Smith said.

The single criminal charge laid so far suggested that evidence behind many allegations was not credible, he said.

Defense Minister Richard Marles, who is acting prime minister in Anthony Albanese’s absence, did not immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment.

Rights activists have noted that the only Australian to be jailed in relation to war crimes in Afghanistan is whistleblower David McBride.

The former army lawyer was sentenced a year ago to almost six years in prison for leaking to the media classified information that exposed allegations of Australian war crimes.

Roberts-Smith, 46, is a former SAS corporal who was awarded the Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan. Around 39,000 Australians soldiers served in Afghanistan and 41 were killed.

His SAS colleagues are among those calling for him to become the first of Australia’s Victoria Cross winners to be stripped of the highest award for gallantry in battle.

FILE - Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)