Brewers overmatched by Sonny Gray, lose 3-0 to Reds

The hope coming into this game was to rebound after a very tough extra innings loss to Cincinnati the night before. Unfortunately, that did not happen as the Milwaukee Brewers ran into Sonny Gray. Jhoulys did his best to keep pace with the Reds pitcher, but Gray’s fastball and slider were working in tandem to great effect.

Yasiel Puig continued to kill the Brewers in this game. In fact he got things started in the bottom of the second. On a 1-1 count, Manny Pina set up high and tight on the Reds’ right fielder. Chacin missed and left the offering over the heart of the plate. Puig hit a bomb that resulted in his 19th home run of the season and staked the Reds to a 1-0 lead.

Chacin settled in after the second inning to give the Brewers a solid start. By the end of his night, Chacin pitched 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 8. Cincinnati would not get that second run until the bottom of the seventh inning.

Once again, Yasiel Puig was the catalyst. He scorched a single up the middle. On the very next pitch, Derek Dietrich singled into right. Next up was Jose Iglesias. Iglesias swatted at a slider from Chacin that resulted in a single that was just out of the reach of Keston Hiura. Puig scored to make it 2-0. Chacin was visibly upset to give up that hit, which ultimately chased him from the game.

Sonny Gray would not need another run beyond the one provided by the Puig home run. He gave Cincinnati a sensational performance, and he made many of the Brewers’ hitters look awful while doing it. When he was done, Gray pitched 8 innings of shut out ball giving up just 4 hits and striking out 12.

While insignificant now, the bottom of the eighth felt like a pivotal moment in the game for Milwaukee. The Brewers, down by two runs and one more at-bat left, had Christian Yelich ready to pitch hit if a runner were to get on in the top of the ninth. Craig Counsell sent Aaron Wilkerson out to the mound for the critical inning.

Wilkerson allowed a walk to Joey Votto to open the inning. Eugenio Suarez followed with a double down the left field line. With runners at second and third and no one out, Cincinnati was in position to put another run on the board. Wilkerson was able to get Nick Senzel to ground out without anyone scoring.

That brought Yasiel Puig to the plate. With first base open and just one out (and a hitter that owned the Brewers in this series up), a logical move would be to intentionally walk Puig and set up a potential double play. Instead Wilkerson pitched to him. The result was a fly ball to center field that scored the third run of the game. After that, Wilkerson intentionally walked Derek Dietrich because he was a left handed hitter. Raisel Iglesias closed out the game for Cincinnati, and the Brewers lost 3-0.

The Brewers and Reds finish their four game series tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 CT. Each team will send their best started to the mound as Brandon Woodruff will face off against Luis Castillo. The game can be seen on Fox Sports Wisconsin and heard on WTMJ. Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!