The Milwaukee Brewers entered this afternoon’s tilt against the Cincinnati Reds riding a four-game winning streak and 6-5 record, the first time they’d been over .500 since the 2014 season. Milwaukee got off to a quick start in the first inning against starter Brandon Finnegan, plating two runs on a double by Hernan Perez to stake Zach Davies to a 2-0 lead.
Davies cruised through a 1-2-3 first inning before running into trouble in the second. He allowed a solo homer to Scott Schebler to lead off the frame followed by a double to Eugenio Suarez. Zach Cosart clubbed a one-out triple to bring home Suarez and then later scored on an RBI groundout by Tucker Barnhart to make it a 3-2 game in favor of the Reds. Those would be the only runs Davies would allow, as he worked 5.0 innings with 5 hits, 3 earned runs, two walks, and four punchouts. His ERA now stands at 8.79 on the season.
Milwaukee tied the game back up at 3 in the top of the third on a solo home run by Eric Thames. The score would stay there until the top of the 6th, when Milwaukee took a 4-3 lead thanks to a solo bomb by Hernan Perez that had to be reviewed after it was initially ruled a double. Unfortunately, Milwaukee would give the lead right back in the bottom of that frame. Carlos Torres came on to relieve Davies, and he coughed up three runs to make it a 6-4 ballgame.
The Brewers would draw to within 6-5 in the top of the 7th, when Eric Thames launched his second solo shot of the contest, and off a lefty in Tony Cingrani no less. In 39 plate appearances thus far in 2017, Thames’ batting line closely mirrors his numbers from his stint in Korea: .382/.462/.912 with 5 home runs, including 2 off of southpaws. That’s good for a 255 wRC+.
In the bottom of the 7th, our old friend Scooter Gennett would give the Reds a bit more breathing room by roping an RBI double to make the score 7-5. Gennett went 2-4 with that double and two runs batted in during today’s contest and now has an 1.106 OPS on the season. He could quickly be on his way to becoming a Brewer killer.
Milwaukee could push across no more runs in the 8th or 9th innings, falling by a score of 7-5. Milwaukee’s record falls to 6-6 with the loss, while the Reds improve to 8-4. The Milwaukee Nine will have a chance to take the four-game series and push their record back over the .500 mark again tomorrow with a victory. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 PM CST, with Wily Peralta (2-0, 2.45 ERA) set to take on Sal Romano, who will be making his MLB debut. The Easter Sunday game will be broadcast on both FSWisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs