Brewers beat the Reds, 3-2

The Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds locked horns at Miller Park as Brandon Woodruff took the mound against Luis Castillo. Both pitchers were effective in this one, consistently pumping upper 90s fastballs and other nastiness past opposing hitters.

Brandon Woodruff in particular looked dominant early. In the top of the first he struck out the side, touching 99 mph. When Woody’s night was done, he covered six innings and struck out eight. The only damage against him came in the top of the 4th inning.

With two outs in the inning, Woodruff got a 97 mph heater too far in on Nick Castellnos. Evidently the ball hit him in the hands, but the Reds’ outfielder was so tough, he didn’t flinch. Or maybe the ball hit the knob of the bat. Nonetheless Castellanos got first base. Eugenio Suarez followed with the ultimate two strike approach. He delivered a half swing single to right field that went into the hole vacated by the shift. Castellanos advanced to third, and Suarez later stole second base with no throw. Both runners would score as Mike Moustakas laced a single to right field, and the Reds were up 2-0.

Milwaukee answered in the bottom half of the inning, and it all started with a little hustle from a superstar. Christian Yelich hit a slow grounder into the the shift. With Freddy Galvis playing in short right field, he had to charge the ball and quickly get a throw away. With Yelich’s speed and hustle, he was able to leg out the single.

Keston Hiura followed Yelich’s hustle play with a flare single to right field. Justin Smoak was next, and he hit a ground ball to Reds’ first baseman, Joey Votto. Attempting to pull off the double play, Votto threw to second. His throw hit Hiura in the back and bounced to the outfield. Yelich scored and Hiura advanced to third.

Hiura later scored on a double by Ben Gamel that sailed over Nick Castellanos’ head.

The third run of the inning came off an RBI single from Orlando Arcia. Justin Smoak scored and Ben Gamel was thrown out at the plate the end the inning.

To say the top of the fifth inning of this game was critical for the Brewers is an understatement. The Reds loaded the bases with no one out. Brandon Woodruff set Joey Votto down looking. Nick Castellanos next hit what appeared to be an RBI single. Unsure if the ball was going to be caught, Freddy Galvis, who was on third base, went back to the bag to tag. His misread of the ball cost him and the Reds. The ball was down, and Ben Gamel came up throwing home. His throw beat Galvis home for the second out of the inning. With the pop out from Jesse Winker, the Brewers and Brandon Woodruff escaped a bases loaded and nobody out situation unscathed.

The three runs scored in the fourth inning would be all that were needed as the Brewers’ bullpen shut down the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Brent Suter took the seventh inning. The result was that he struck out the side.

Devin Williams took over the eighth inning. As he is striking out striking out about 200 batters per nine right now, it was newsworthy that Jesse Winker was able to ground out to first to end the top of the eighth. Votto and Castellanos were unable to even to make any sort of contact as they both struck out.

Josh Hader took the ninth. While he struck out no one, he did notch the save. With the win, the Brewers take the first two games of this four game series, and they go to 13-15 on the season.

These two teams go at it again tomorrow night. Game time is scheduled for 7:10 CT. Adrian Houser will match up with Sonny Gray. The game will be broadcast on WTMJ 620 and Fox Sports Wisconsin.