Brewers defeat Reds in a Smoak Show, 4-2

Box Score

Trevor Bauer may have earned himself some free beer, but that was the only ‘W’ he got at Miller Park tonight against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Budweiser promised to make a “Cincinnati Buds” beer can if Bauer could reach 46 strikeouts through six starts, which he did upon earning his fifth of nine strikeouts against the Brewers. But Bauer saw his ERA more than double during his outing on Monday night — from 0.68 to 1.65 — after he allowed four earned runs across 6.1 innings pitched.

The Brewers struck first in the bottom of the opening inning, something that has been a rarity for them this year. Christian Yelich doubled in his first at-bat, and with two outs, he came around to score on a single by Justin Smoak. The first baseman was also responsible for Milwaukee’s second and third runs of the game, launching a two-run homer with two outs in the third inning after Keston Hiura was hit by a pitch. The Cream City Nine added one last run in the fourth, on Omar Narvaez’s first dinger since getting traded over from Seattle.

Southpaw Brett Anderson out-dueled Bauer on this night. He went through the first five frames scoreless, inducing three double plays along the way. Curt Casali touched him up for a solo homer in the sixth, and when Anderson came out to start the seventh, Eugenio Suarez also took him deep. That was the end of Brett’s day, as he worked six complete innings with five hits and the two runs allowed, walking one while punching out three. After a shaky start to the year, his ERA is now down to 3.52.

Devin Williams, David Phelps, and Josh Hader combined to throw three hitless, scoreless innings to finish out the ballgame, a 4-2 victory for the Brewers. Hader recorded his sixth save and still has yet to allow a base hit this season. The Brewers improve to 12-15 with the win, and these two teams will meet for game two of the series on Tuesday night. Brandon Woodruff is slated to oppose Luis Castillo, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM central.