Brewers fall to Reds 2-1 in 10 innings

Box Score

Tonight’s start featured Brett Anderson (4.99 ERA entering tonight’s game) of the Brewers and Luis Castillo (6.47 ERA) of the Reds. It wasn’t the type of pitching matchup that you would expect to turn into a pitchers’ duel, but that’s exactly what happened tonight.

In the first three innings, each team managed just one baserunner. Christian Yelich drew a walk in the first inning, and Kyle Farmer singled in the third. That was it in the first three innings. In the fourth and fifth, Brett Anderson kept the Reds off the bases. The Brewers did get a baserunner in the fourth (Yelich reached on an error) and fifth (Omar Narvaez singled), but both of them were erased on double plays. Through five innings, both starting pitchers had faced just one batter over the minimum.

Each team did see a little more success in the sixth. Jonathan India walked with two outs in the top half of the sixth but was stranded on base. Jackie Bradley Jr. walked to lead off the sixth for the Brewers and was bunted over to second, but Luis Urias and Daniel Vogelbach both struck out and left the game scoreless.

Going into the seventh, Anderson was still strong and retired the side in order. In the bottom of the seventh, the Brewers had a change to break through. Avisail Garcia and Omar Narvaez singled to put two runners on base with one out. Willy Adames grounded out and moved the runners forward, and Jace Peterson walked to load the bases. Jackie Bradley Jr. was up next, and he worked the count to 2-2 before a questionable strike three call struck him out, ending the inning with the game still scoreless.

That ended the day for both starting pitchers, and both were excellent in the game. Luis Castillo had a very strong day, pitching seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, three walks, and three hits. However, Brett Anderson was a little better, also pitching seven scoreless while allowing just two baserunners (one hit and one walk) while striking out nine batters. Unfortunately, the game was basically neutral between the two, and it went over to the bullpens.

Devin Williams took the eighth for the Brewers, and allowed a single to pinch hitter Jesse Winker but nothing else. Brad Brach took the eighth for the Reds, and struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning to keep it scoreless after eight. Josh Hader took the ninth for the Brewers and allowed a leadoff walk to Jonathan India, but struck out the next two batters and then caught India stealing to end the top of the ninth. Shogo Akiyama pitched for the Reds in the ninth and walked Yelich to start the inning. However, Yelich couldn’t advance and the game went scoreless into extra innings.

Brad Boxberger was given the tenth for the Brewers, with Nick Castellanos starting on second base for the Reds. It didn’t go well for Boxberger at all. He started off hitting Tyler Sephenson with a pitch, then walked Joey Votto to load the bases. The Reds then scored their first one when Eugenio Suarez was also hit by a pitch, giving the Reds a 1-0 lead. Boxberger settled down a bit after that and struck out Winker, but Kyle Farmer hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Stephenson and gave the Reds their second run. The Reds brought in pinch runner Mike Freeman for Votto, but Omar Narvaez caught him off the base on a throw to Willy Adames, which initially was ruled as safe but a review overturned it, ending the Reds inning.

Down two, the Brewers put Adames at second to start the tenth and Heath Hembree came in to pitch for the Reds. He started out strong with strikeouts of Peterson and Bradley Jr., but Daniel Robertson singled to right field to score Adames, and Robertson reached second on a fielding error by Castellanos. Luis Urias then walked to put the winning run on base, and the Reds switched to Amir Garrett. Tim Lopes pinch hit for Boxberger here, but ended up striking out to end the game.

Looking to avoid the sweep, the Brewers will send Freddy Peralta to the mount tomorrow, with Tyler Mahle opposing for the Reds. First pitch is at 1:10 pm on Bally Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.