Box Score
On Lou Gehrig Day, the Brewers came to Cincinnati riding a seven-game winning streak. They also had the reigning player of the week in Christian Yelich, though there was concern entering the series after he took a pitch on the hand in Sunday’s game. Yelich was back in the lineup and put those concerns to rest early. He hit a third-inning solo home run that was the deciding factor in a 3-2 win on Monday night, extending the winning streak to eight games.
The first inning went by quickly for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio hit a one-out single, but the Brewers didn’t manage anything else. Meanwhile, the Reds struck quickly against Aaron Civale. TJ Friedl led off for the Reds with a double deep to right. After Civale struck out Gavin Lux, Elly De La Cruz singled to left center and drove in Lux. Tyler Stephenson followed that with another single that moved De La Cruz to third.
Next up was Spencer Steer. On a 1-1 pitch, he went for a bunt and got it down along the first base line. William Contreras pounced on it and tried to make a throw to first from his back, but it was way off target and rolled into right field. De La Cruz easily scored (and would have scored regardless of the play), but it allowed Stephenson to reach third and Steer to get to second. That increased the Reds to 2-0 and had them on the cusp of a big inning, with runners at second and third with just one out.
Following a mound visit, Civale managed to settle down. He got Will Benson to strike out swinging, then a pop out from Jose Trevino ended the inning.
Fortunately, the Brewers didn’t take long to respond. Sal Frelick hit a one-out single that just got over De La Cruz and into center field. One pitch later, Andruw Monasterio hit a double to deep left-center, putting runners at second and third with one out. Jake Bauers worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases for Joey Ortiz. Patience paid off for Ortiz as he took four straight balls following a first-pitch strike, and the Brewers scored their first run of the game.
Brice Turang was up next, with the bases still loaded and one out. He hit the second pitch he saw into deep left field, and Monasterio tagged up to score. The throw from Benson was cut off by Garrett Hampson, and he chose to go after Bauers, who had also tagged up. Bauers didn’t do much for a rundown, but it was enough time for Monasterio to score. The game was tied at 2-2.
After a shaky first, Civale looked better in the second. He got two quick outs to start the inning, but got into a bit of trouble by walking Friedl and allowing another hard-hit single to Lux. He would strand them this time by getting De La Cruz to ground out, keeping it a 2-2 tie after two innings.
In the third, Chourio worked Singer to a full count before popping out, and Contreras ended a six-pitch at-bat with a groundout that he almost beat to first. Yelich was up next, and his hot streak continued. He hit a low slider to deep center, with a 111.1-mph exit velocity as it left the field. That gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead.
From there, it turned into a battle of the pitching staffs. Civale worked a 1-2-3 third inning, getting strikeouts from Steer and Benson. Both sides went down in order in the fourth, and the game remained at 3-2.
Ortiz led off the fifth inning with his second walk of the day. Turang followed that with a broken-bat groundout to third, but the Reds only went for the lead out of Ortiz at second and didn’t go for the double play. Turang would be left at first after Chourio struck out and Contreras flew out. The Reds responded with a Friedl leadoff bunt for their own runner. He was erased on a double-play ground ball from Lux that went right to Ortiz, who was lined up near second thanks to Friedl being in motion for a steal. De La Cruz followed that with a groundout to end the inning.
Singer left the game after five innings, and former Brewer Brent Suter entered in relief for the sixth. Yelich started off the inning with another well-hit ball to center field, but Friedl was able to make a running grab for the out. Frelick hit a two-out single that just barely remained fair and caught the Reds in an awkward spot, but he was stranded there.
Meanwhile, Civale remained in the game to start the sixth. He allowed an infield single to Stephenson to start the inning, then got Steer to line out. After 86 pitches, manager Pat Murphy decided to pull Civale there. He recovered from a rough first inning to pitch 5 1⁄3 innings, allowing just the two runs in the first. He also allowed seven hits and a walk and struck out five.
Rob Zastryzny was the first reliever in from the bullpen, and the Reds countered by bringing in pinch-hitter Connor Joe. The initial move worked as Joe singled to right. Zastryzny recovered with a strikeout of Trevino, and the Reds continued to press by pinch-hitting Santiago Espinal for Fraley. This move didn’t work, and Espinal grounded out to third to end the inning.
The battle of the bullpens continued through the seventh. Ian Gibaut pitched the seventh for the Reds and got the Brewers in order. Jared Koenig got the seventh for the Brewers and worked around a two-out walk of Lux to keep the Reds off the board
The eighth was similar, with Gibaut getting the first two outs before Taylor Rogers was called to face Yelich. He flew out to left to end the inning. As for the Brewers, the bullpen kept chugging behind Abner Uribe. He got the Reds in order in the eighth, striking out two along the way.
Scott Barlow took the ninth for the Reds, and it was another 1-2-3 inning by the Brewers offense. That left closer Trevor Megill with a one-run lead to protect in the ninth. He started out by getting Trevino to ground out to third. Espinal took Megill to a full count, but he lined out to right for the second out of the inning. Hampson was the Reds’ last chance, and Megill needed just four pitches to strike him out and end the game. The Brewers won and had their eighth straight win.
It was not a great day for the offense, but they did just enough in this one. Frelick was the lone Brewer with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 in the game. Ortiz was hitless but drew two walks in his three plate appearances. Turang and Ortiz added an RBI each despite going hitless. Yelich’s home run was the difference in this one, putting the Brewers ahead for good in the third inning.
Meanwhile, the Brewers’ pitchers kept the Reds in check after they had a quick start. After two slow-developing innings, Civale only allowed two more baserunners in his final 3 1⁄3 innings of work. The bullpen combined to allow just two baserunners in their 3 2⁄3 innings. They also recorded strikeouts for six of the final 11 outs.
Game two of the series is set for tomorrow evening. Freddy Peralta will take the mound for the Brewers and will face Hunter Greene of the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. CT. It will be on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.
