Brewers 1, Reds 6: Milwaukee hits a home run!

Win: Anthony DeSclafani (2-0)
Loss: Wily Peralta (0-2)

HR: Ryan Braun (1), Zack Cozart (2), Joey Votto (5)

Boxscore
Fangraphs Win Expectancy Graph

It's a strange thing. We're not even three weeks into this season and it's really kind of impossible not to have given up on this Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. And I say this as, I'd like to think, one of the most optimistic and always-looking-on-the-bright-side Brewers fans around, perhaps annoyingly so, sometimes.

But coming in to today's game, I just didn't think the Brewers would win. Against a Reds team that was projected by something like 99% of everyone to finish last in the division. The Brewers kept it close for a while, because the Reds couldn't score either, but it just seemed like Milwaukee would fall behind at some point.

In the sixth inning, the Reds had a runner on first with no outs and I tweeted out that it was a small victory that the Brewers weren't losing that late in the game. I think that tweet was relevant for maybe about five minutes or so. The Reds loaded the bases and got a sac fly from Brayan Pena to take the lead. The next batter -- Zack Cozart -- hit a ball into the left field stands to make the lead 4-0. Joey Votto hit a two-run homer in the eighth, just to rub it in.

And the Brewers lost. It's just, I guess, what they do this season. It's their thing, now, again. There's still so, so much of the season, and the Brewers could still turn it around because they aren't as bad as they've looked. It's just truly impossible to have much faith in that notion given everything we've seen in the first 13 games. It doesn't help that they're losing players left and right with Carlos Gomez on the DL, Scooter Gennett possibly needing the DL and Jonathan Lucroy leaving Monday's game with a foul tip off his toe.

Wily Peralta was the lone bright spot for five innings, giving up a couple singles and walks but otherwise shutting out Cincinnati. Then he was tagged for all six Reds' runs, turning what was a very nice day into an awful one.

The Brewers offense was at it's most pitiful. Against eight innings of Anthony Desclafani, the Brewers managed just two hits (Hector Gomez, Adam Lind) and a walk (Lind).

In the ninth, however, the Brewers had something to cheer about as they finally, finally hit another home run when Ryan Braun lined one into center field off of Burke Badenhop. Ryan Braun! He finally did a thing that Ryan Braun is supposed to do! His first home run of the year!

Braun's homer was the only thing to cheer about in the end, though. Maybe it'll help turn the Brewers around. Probably not, though. It's just too hard to think anything could turn this team around, until it basically already is turned around. That's how bad it's gotten this year. Already.