It would have been a tough play for Austin Martin. It was easy for the young fan in the front row of the left-field bleachers.

And for all intents and purposes, it was the difference in the Twins’ x-x loss Sunday to the Brewers in front of 36,324 bipartisan fans at Target Field. Eric Haase added a solo home run off Jhoan Duran in the ninth, but the damage had been done.

With the game tied 5-5 in the eighth inning and Milwaukee right fielder Sal Frelick at first, Rhys Hoskins skied a long fly ball toward left. Martin had a bead on it and faded back to the wall before leaping for a miracle catch.

Instead, a young fan wearing a Twins road jersey reached over the metal railing to snatch the ball out of the air, Hoskins had a two-run homer and the Brewers had a 7-5 lead. The ball likely would have eluded Martin’s grasp, and the play was reviewed for potential interference before officials declared it a home run for the Brewers first baseman.

Catcher Eric Haase went 3 for 4 with two home runs, and Jackson Chourio was 2 for 4 with a double, home run and three RBIs as the National League Central leaders swept a two-game set from their American League border rival in front of a combined 78,006 fans.

Byron Buxton went 2 for 4 with a pair of leadoff home runs — one against Brewers closer and former Twins right-hander Trevor Megill — and the Twins had the tying run at the plate with two out in the ninth in the form of Matt Wallner, who had delivered a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning. But Megill got Wallner swinging on an offspeed pitch for his 21st save.

Twins starter Joe Ryan was strong early, allowing only one hit — a solo home run by Eric Haase — through four innings as the Twins took a 3-1 lead. Max Kepler and Carlos Santana started the second with walks off Aaron Civale and scored on Christian Vazquez’s single up the middle.

Kepler scored from third, and Santana scored from second after Brice Turing’s throw to shortstop Willy Adames went wide for an error to make it 2-0. Buxton hit a leadoff homer off Civale in the third to make it 3-1.

But Ryan ran into trouble in the fifth, when the first five Brewers hitters reached base on four hits and a fielder’s choice.

A two-run double by Chourio and run-scoring single by Haase gave Milwaukee a 4-3 lead, although it didn’t last long.

With Civale back on the mound to start the Twins’ fifth, Willi Castro drew a leadoff walk and scored on Larnach’s two-run home run, which gave the Twins a 5-4 lead.

Jorge Alcala relieved Ryan to start the seventh and immediately gave up a game-tying home run to Chourio, his third RBI of the day and fifth of the two-game weekend series between the border rivals.