Dominant offensive performance propels Brewers to 18-4 victory over Reds

Box Score

The Brewers performed extremely well at the plate tonight, dominating the Reds' pitching, scoring a whopping 18 runs in an 18-4 rout that never felt close. Freddy Peralta faced off against a struggling Vladimir Gutierrez, something that can be said of the rest of Cincinnati’s rotation.

The runs came early and often for the Brewers, who showed consistency on offense, scoring runs in six of eight offensive innings. Milwaukee still holds the division lead with a record of 17-8, 2.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. The Reds continue to hold the league’s worst record, sitting at a lowly 3-21, including a record of 1-19 since splitting their opening series with the Braves.

The Reds' offense came through though in the first inning, striking for two runs against Peralta, who has had a hard time pitching at home so far this season. Milwaukee then struck back in the bottom of the inning with another leadoff home run, this time from Kolten Wong, who blasted it on the twelfth pitch of the at-bat. They would add another run when Andrew McCutchen singled to left to bring home Christian Yelich. After one inning, the game was tied at two.

In the bottom of the third, Guttierez got into trouble, walking the bases loaded for Brewers' first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who would set a franchise record with eight RBIs in a single game. Rowdy would begin his RBI collection when he clobbered a 453-foot grand slam to center field. This gave the Brewers some much-needed insurance and broke the game wide open, with the Brewers up 6-2.

The Reds would strike again in the top of the fifth but Milwaukee was able to answer with a run of their own in the bottom. In the bottom of the sixth, it was again Rowdy Tellez who would provide Milwaukee with even more, hitting a two-run bomb to bring home McCutchen.

Milwaukee would continue their offensive onslaught in the bottom of the seventh after Reds pitcher Buck Farmer again loaded the bases on walks. This time, it was Yelich’s turn, hitting a single to right to bring home Cain and Urias. Former Brewer Hunter Strickland was then brought in to pitch and McCutchen immediately hit a double off of him to score Victor Caratini and Yelich.

The bottom of the eighth was the biggest for Milwaukee, as the Crew poured on five more runs. It started again with the bases loaded, and Caratini hit a ground ball to first base that scored Cain from third. Cincinnati then walked in a run to make the score 16-3, but the Brewers weren’t done. McCutchen would hit a single to bring in Cain, followed by a Tellez double off the wall in center, scoring Willy Adames and Jace Peterson to give him the franchise record.

Cincinnati was able to tack on a run in the top of the ninth but otherwise fizzled out, with Brent Suter coming in to finish the job. Milwaukee will look to sweep the crumbling Reds on Thursday, with Adrian Houser on the mound facing 22-year-old rookie Hunter Greene.

First pitch is at 12:40 CDT on Bally Sports Wisconsin and 620 WTMJ.