Ryan Braun returns but Milwaukee Brewers dropped first game against Cincinnati Reds 8-6

WP: Tim Adleman (W, 5-4)
LP: Junior Guerra (L, 1-2)

HR: Billy Hamilton (2), Adam Duvall (17), Manny Pina (5), Orlando Arcia (6), Travis Shaw (16), Eugenio Suarez (12), Joey Votto (21)

Box Score

It was another sad day for fans of Junior Guerra (Kyle) as the Brewers pitcher was decimated by the Reds offense to lead the Brewers to an 8-6 defeat.

That damage started in the first when Billy Hamilton smacked his second homer of the year to lead the game off. Just a couple batters later, Adam Duvall went yard putting Milwaukee into an early 3-0 deficit.

The Reds weren’t the only ones who came to hit bombs. In the second, Manny Pina and Orlando Arcia would go yard, then Travis Shaw would give the Crew a very temporary lead with a three-run smash in the third.

Then, Guerra immediately threw all of that away. In the bottom of the third, the Reds tied the game on a Eugenio Suarez solo home run — the sixth homer of the game — to tie it. Bottom of the fifth, no outs, Joey Votto hit a bomb to give the Reds all the lead they would need.

All in all, Guerra gave up eight runs, all but two of those scored on the four homers he allowed. Part of the home run derby against Junior was his location. It’s been a problem for him all season, and you can’t make mistakes at Great American Ballpark, or someone will go yard. He also walked three batters over his four-plus innings.

In good news for the Brewers, the game marked Ryan Braun’s return to the lineup. The Brewers’ slugger was able to get a double and had a couple other really hard hit balls that were caught by some pretty good Reds defenders.

While Braun returning was great news, the Brewers’ offensive star was Arcia. Not only did he hit a homer, but he also went three for four with two RBI and a run. Meanwhile, for only the second time this season, Eric Thames did not hit a homer against the Reds.

The Brewers will try to get game two of the matchup tomorrow night. Chace Anderson goes to the mound (6-2, 2.92 ERA) against the Reds’ Luis Castillo (0-0, 3.60 ERA). First pitch is at 6:10 p.m.