Brewers pour it on late, top Reds 8-2

WP: Chase Anderson (6-6); LP: Sal Romano (4-8); Save: none; Home runs: Mil - Keon Broxton 2 (2); Cin - Michael Lorenzen (2)

Check out Keon’s line in the Box Score

Late runs allowed the Brewers to relax after sixteen tense innings over the last two days, and Milwaukee (48-33) rode a strong start by Chase Anderson and a great night by Keon Broxton to top the Cincinnati Reds (34-48) 8-2 at the Great American Ballpark tonight.

Let’s talk Keon first. When the game was tight, he provided all of the Milwaukee offense. His second inning single drove in Ryan Braun (who had singled) for the game’s first run. Then he led off the top of the fourth against Reds’ starter Sal Romano with a bullet homerun to left center on the first pitch, putting the Crew up 2-0.

After Cincy pulled within 2-1 in the sixth, Broxton stole a run in the top of the eighth. Manny Pina led off the inning getting hit by a pitch for the second time in the game, and Broxton walked. Orlando Arcia failed in a sac bunt attempt, leaving Keon on second and Arcia on first. Those two executed a double steal to put runners on second and third. With Jonathan Villar pinch hitting for Anderson, Broxton got too far off of third and Tucker Barnhart fired down to third, catching Keon in a rundown.

Arcia came up next to third, ala Lorenzo Cain, and Broxton made it back to the bag as Lando took off back to second. Barnhart’s throw (to Billy Hamilton covering second) nabbed Arcia, but Broxton took off for home and made it easily. 3-1 Brewers.

Anderson was perfect through 3 ¹⁄₃ innings before Barnhart singled in the fourth. Joey Votto followed with a double play, and Chase faced the minimum until there was one down in the sixth, when Reds’ reliever Michael Lorenzon lined a 3-2 fastball out to left, cutting the Milwaukee lead to 2-1. Usually a badly placed fastball to a pitcher isn’t that bad, but...Anderson finished the inning, and his final line was six innings, two hits, one run (earned), a walk, and five strikeouts.

Josh Hader had the seventh, and walked Joey Votto leading off the frame. Hader fanned Scooter Gennett, and Eugenio Suarez bounced into an easy 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Sticking with the ‘A’ bullpen, Jeremy Jeffress had the eighth. Broxton made a nice running catch for the first out, and after a single, JJ fanned the final two to send the game to the ninth at 3-1.

The first two Brewers in the ninth went down, but Jesus Aguilar collected his second single of the game. Travis Shaw singled on a groundball to center, and Hernan Perez drilled a double into left center, putting Milwaukee up 5-1, and taking third on the throw. Manny Pina singled Perez home, and then Keon Broxton homered to right center to put the Brewers up 8-1.

So the ‘A’ pen wasn’t needed in the bottom of the inning, and Dan Jennings continued his recent struggles, allowing a run on three hits. It could have been worse; Keon made an amazing diving catch in right center for the second out of the inning. The grab came on an all-out dive and a snow cone in the webbing of the glove. Broxton made up for all of his missed time this year in AAA with his hitting, base running, and defense tonight.

Game notes:

• Broxton’s line: 3-4 with a walk, two homers, three runs scored, four RBIs, and a steal
• Travis Shaw was 1-2 with 3 walks
• Ryan Braun left the game after six innings with lower back tightness. His status was not known for sure after the game, but lower back strains are at least a 3 day thing (I know this from experience). The Brewers are getting thin in bench players and might need to make a move to get another outfielder up tomorrow with both Christian Yelich and Braun out with injuries.
• Manny Pina had two hits and was hit by two pitches.
• Orlando Arcia’s struggles at the plate continued with an 0-5 night with 3 strikeouts and a failed bunt. But he had a stolen base, made the right move in the rundown, and had two good plays on pop-ups.

The Brewers have once again taken the first two in a four game set and look to win the series tomorrow afternoon against the Reds. Their lead remains at 2 ¹⁄₂ games over the Cubs and 5 games over the Cardinals. Milwaukee’s Jhoulys Chacin, coming off of his worst start of the season, is 6-3 with a 3.92 ERA. The Reds counter with Tyler Mahle (6-6, 3.98).