“We had an opportunity, for sure”.
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3-1 wasn’t enough; Garza had a good start but couldn’t get through the sixth.
Raisel Iglesias had three strikeouts in two scoreless relief innings before Ohlendorf came on in relief of Tony Cingrani with two outs and clinched Milwaukee’s third straight loss and fourth in its last five games.
Bruce’s play helped DeSclafani extend to 12 his streak of consecutive hitters retired before Ramon Flores singled with one out in the fifth. Jonathan Villar hit a slow grounder down the line that Joey Votto failed to charge, allowing the ball to hit first base and skip away for an RBI single.
The Reds boosted their margin to 5-3 in the seventh when Blaine Boyer surrendered a two-out, run-scoring double to long-time Brewers tormentor Bruce.
Villar nearly led off the game with a home run, sailing an opposite-field drive down the left-field line that sliced just outside the foul pole. Hamilton flew to deep center, Votto singled to left with 2 strikes, Bruce walked on a 3-2 pitch, and Duvall doubled off the very top of the leftfield wall, scoring Votto and leaving runners at second and third.
Honorable Mentions are due to: Jay Bruce, who walked twice, doubled in a run, robbed a dinger on defense, and scored; Adam Duvall, who doubled and drove in a pair; Billy Hamilton, whose 2 for 4 night woefully underrepresents his impact on the bases; and Tucker Barnhart, whose late 2-RBI double put the Reds in front for good. Yet, somehow, Ross Ohlendorf prevailed, getting Braun to pop up to shortstop Zack Cozart to preserve the win and earn his second save of the season.
“It’s coming back”, Garza said. Through six, if the Brewers got a hit in an inning, they scored. It provided the soundtrack for postgame fireworks as part of a Christmas in July promotion.
Corey Knebel is set to make his return for the Milwaukee Brewers as Michael Blazek was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs over the weekend. He opened the season on the DL with a strained left oblique and went 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA in five games last month before being sent down. Santana has been on the disabled list since June 10 with right elbow soreness. He could start a rehab assignment within a week…. He’s on the 60-day DL.
Reds: RHP Homer Bailey threw 67 pitches in four innings of a rehab start for Triple-A Louisville on Friday, allowing three hits and one run. He allowed six runs (five earned) in just five innings that day and he walked one batter. Bailey is recovering from Tommy John surgery 14 months ago….
Phillips left the game after the sixth with a strained right calf. He’s 2-2 career against the Reds with a 5.88 ERA in seven starts and two relief appearances.
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Brewers vs Reds Saturday in Cincinnati – Right-hander Jimmy Nelson will be hoping that he can pick up his first win since May 29 on Saturday when the Milwaukee Brewers take on John Lamb and the Cincinnati Reds. The game will start at 6:10 Milwaukee time.
