Zach Davies was in desperate need of a strong outing after struggling through his first four starts of the season. While he was far from efficient, Davies did string some zeroes together today to earn his first win of the season. He stranded runners in scoring position in the second, third, and fourth innings, working around six hits and a walk over five scoreless innings. He struck out six batters on the night and lowered his ERA to 6.57 on the season.
The offense picked up Davies in a big way today as well. Hernan Perez got the scoring started off in the second inning, hitting an RBI triple to score Manny Pina from first base to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. Perez would hit another triple to drive in Pina from first in the fourth inning, and Jonathan Villar would add a two-run single later on in the frame to make it a 4-0 game in favor of the Brewers.
Things really got out of hand in the 6th inning. Perez lead off the frame with a solo home run, his third of the season, make it 5-0. After a slow start to the year, Hernan is now batting .261/.346/.609 through 52 plate appearances. Keon Broxton followed with what at first looked like a home run, but was ruled a double after a replay review by the umpires. Pinch-hitter Nick Franklin reached on an error and then Jonathan Villar hit his second two-run single of the game. That brought up Eric Thames, who promptly deposited a 92 MPH fastball over the fence in right field for his 11th home run of the season to give Milwaukee a 9-0 lead. Thames now owns the franchise record for most home runs in the month of April. Thames was drug tested again after the game.
We now present your daily @EricThames home run clip. pic.twitter.com/tQiMbW887b
— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2017
Oliver Drake pitched a scoreless inning and Tommy Milone pitched three innings while allowing a run to pick up the mop-up save. The 9-1 victory moves Milwaukee’s record back to .500 at 11-11, while the Reds drop a game below at 10-11. The series finale is tomorrow afternoon at 12:40 PM CST, with Wily Peralta slated to face off against Rookie Davis.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs