MILWAUKEE – Rookie Luis Rodriguez hit his first major league home run and Kyle Lohse became just the second Minnesota starter in 13 games to get a win, leading the Twins past the Milwaukee Brewers 5-2 Sunday.

Rodriguez, who turns 25 on Monday, hit a two-run homer in the first that barely cleared the wall in the left-field corner and gave the Twins a 2-0 lead.

Lohse (6-6) snapped a personal three-game losing streak despite allowing at least a hit in each of his six innings. He allowed nine hits, while striking out three and walking none. He and Carlos Silva are the only Twins starters to win in the last 13 games.

Milwaukee starter Victor Santos (2-8) allowed five runs on 10 hits, only the second time in 15 starts that he’s allowed more than three earned runs. He has one win in his last 12 starts.

Geoff Jenkins hit a two-run home run off reliever Joe Nathan in the ninth for Milwaukee, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Nathan gave up four hits in the inning, but was able to close out the game without further damage.

The Twins left runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth innings but added to their lead in the sixth with a run-scoring single up the middle by Mike Redmond that scored Jacque Jones.

Santos was chased a batter later when Juan Castro hit a slow roller to third, and Glenn Williams was able to beat the throw home. Shannon Stewart drove in Redmond with a two-out double to left-center off reliever Tommy Phelps to put the Twins up 5-0.

The Twins had several chances earlier in the game to open up a larger lead. With nobody out in the fifth, Jenkins caught a fly ball and threw a one-hopper to Chad Moeller, who tagged out Stewart at home to complete a double play. Moeller was positioned a few feet up the line and swiped at Stewart, who slid but was unable to avoid the tag.

The win marked the fifth time this season that the Twins lost the first two games of a three-game series but were able to avoid a sweep.

Notes: Brewers 3B Russell Branyan will begin a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Nashville Monday and will serve as the team’s DH. Branyan had been on the DL since June 2 with a fractured left middle finger. … Williams extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a bloop single to left to lead off the second.

AP-ES-06-26-05 1707EDT