Dodgers Clinch National League West On Reds Turf

           

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Kyle Tucker lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers with four hits, including two doubles and a home run to an early advantage, leading to an 8-2 Division clinching win over the Reds.

The loss eliminated the San Diego Padres with their sixth win in seven games against the Reds. It also insured the Reds a losing season with it's 82nd loss on the year. 

The Reds were 20-11 in the first quarter of the season before sliding to the current low of 11 games below .500.

Brady Singer walked Freddie Freeman, then fell behind Tucker 3-1. Tucker hit his 16th home run of the season.

The Dodgers added two more in the second inning. Freddie Freeman drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, that Dane Myers ran down in the left center field gap. Tucker doubled in the second run. Tucker finished with a second double in the eighth.

The Dodgers took the third inning off then bum rushed Singer in the fourth. The only out he recorded was Tommy Edman, who was picked off first after he was hit by a pitch. The next five batters reached base to end Singer's day. Freeman and Tucker singled. Teoscar Hernandez walked to load the bases. Max Muncy doubled home two runs and rookie, Josue De Paula, singled to score Hernandez. 

Singer left and Luis Mey finished the fourth inning with no further damage.

"It looked like he was trying to get a little extra and couldn't command his pitches," Terry Francona said. "This is a bad team to play when you don't have command."

Singer has allowed six, eight and seven runs in his last three starts. He was the winning pitcher in one of those but lost six of his last seven decisions. 

"I had a lot of walks and hard contact," Singer said. "I tried to get command going and stuff like that. I tried to get the command going and obviously I couldn't. I couldn't get the ball where I wanted. I tried to force some pitches. Matt Tracy (acting pitching coach) and I are working to figure something out. We're working on some mechanical stuff."

Dodgers' starter Justin Wrobleski was removed after he retired all nine Reds' batters he face. The Dodgers are trying to milk him into the post season.

Blake Treinen inherited a 7-0 lead.

Singer was charged with seven runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings on nine hits, four walks and two hit batters. He had no strikeouts.

Blake Treinen struck out Myers and Elly De La Cruz but Sal Stewart hit his 32nd home run, driving in his 109th run. It was the Reds' first base runner.

Mey, Tony Santillan, Pierce Johnson and Brandon Williamson closed down the Dodgers offense until Miguel Rojas hit his fourth home run in the ninth.  but Dodgers reliever Landon Knack picked up four innings before turning the keys over to Seth Halvorsen gave the Reds a token run in the ninth.

The use of Williamson changes the Reds plan for Chase Burns on Friday against the Chicago Cubs. The last two starts for Burns, the Reds had Williamson follow Burns in his starts.

"This will change that," Francona said. "We are about to meet and figure that out."

Stewart singled to raise his average to .271. Will Banfield, who replaced Tyler Stephenson, who left the game with a cramp, doubled just missing his first career home run. Juan Brito's ground out scored Stewart before Halvorsen struck out Matt McLain to clinch the division crown. 

The Dodgers are 93-60 with nine games left. They have a four game lead over the Atlanta Braves for the first round playoff bye. They are two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the top record which would guarantee home field advantage at every level of the playoffs.

It is the 13th time in 14 seasons the Dodgers owned the division title in the NL West.

Reds Finally Beat Dodgers To Delay Their Celebration

         

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds delayed the Los Angeles Dodgers celebration with a 6-2 win. It was the Reds first win in the last 11 games, including the playoffs.

The Dodgers could celebrate later tonight if the Colorado Rockies defeat the San Diego Padres in a game in Denver.

Elly De La Cruz, Juan Brito and Sal Stewart combined to seven hits and four RBI.

Blake Snell, who pitched a no-hitter the last time he pitched at Great American Ball Park, left the game after one inning. He struck out Dane Myers on a challenged called strike three. Elly De La Cruz flied out routinely to center. Sal Stewart singled but Snell picke him off.

Snell left with left groin tightness. 

The Dodgers dented the plate in the third inning on an RBI double by Will Smith after Mookie Betts second hit of the game.

De La Cruz put the Reds ahead with his 28th home run, a career high. It came off Seth Halvorsen in the third inning. Jose Trevino singled and was forced at second by Matt McLain, who was on base when De La Cruz hit the seventh home run of his career in his 25th game against the Dodgers. He has reached base in his last 23 games.

"Elly has balance and when you have good balance, it shrinks the strike zone a little bit. He leverages the ball so well when he's on balance and uses the whole field," Terry Francona said.

Andrew Abbott was short of qualifying for a win, when he walked five in 4 2/3 innings, including the first two batters of the fifth. The Dodgers had just three hits off Abbott but the walks caused manager Terry Francona to bring Julian Garcia to get out the Reds' main nightmare, Teoscar Hernandez with a pop up. Abbott struck out five.

Myers hit a home run off Bobby Miller with two outs in the fifth inning to give the Reds a two-run lead. It was Myers' seventh home run.

Miller and the Dodgers' catcher, Will Smith, are both University of Louisville graduates. Both were taken by the Dodgers in the first round. Smith in 2016 and Miller in 2020.

The Reds got to Garcia for a run in the sixth. With one out Kyle Tucker singled. Kike Hernandez dribbled an infield single and Garcia walked pinch hitter Alex Freeland to load the bases. Tommy Edman grounded out to Stewart at first and his only play was at first as Tucker scored. Tejay Antone came in to face Betts, who lined out to De La Cruz.

The Reds added a run against Miller. Stewart hit his second single and Tyler Stephenson was hit by a pitch. Juan Brito's third hit of the game was a duck snort in short right field to score Stewart.

"It feels great. I'm getting confidence from my teammates and the staff have said positive things to me," Brito said through interpreter Tomas Vera. "Hitting from the left side is. I had surgery last year that took a tendon from my left side. I wasn't able to do things from the left side but it hasn't happened this year."

Brito, a switch hitter is hitting .394 from the right side and .238 from the left side. He has hit two home runs since joining the Reds one from each side.

"Brito has a good short swing from the right side. It is a little longer from the left side," Francona said.

Brock Burke extended his career-high with his 74th appearance. He authored a scoreless inning. He gave up an inning opening hit to Smith but Reds' boogy man Teoscar Hernandez hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

Stewart's third hit of the game came off Jack Dreyer. It was a hard smash off the glove of Betts. It was Stewart's 108th RBI good for second in baseball and the first RBI in eight games. McLain started the inning with a double and stole third. Manager Dave Roberts elected to walk De La Cruz. Eugenio Suarez walked to load the bases. TJ Friedl singled to score De La Cruz but Tommy Edman threw Stewart out at home.

Graham Ashcraft pitched in the eighth for the Reds, walking two with two outs but escaped the inning.

Emilio Pagan gave up a leadoff single but struck out the heart of the Dodgers order, including Teoscar Hernandez, who came in hitting .600 against the Reds this season with three home runs.

 

Blake Snell Comes Back To The Scene Of The Crime

           

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The last time lefthanded starter, Blake Snell, pitched at Great American Ball Park, the Reds left shaking their individual and collective heads.

On August 2, 2024, Snell pitched a no-hitter in a 3-0 win. 

He was a member of the San Francisco Giants on that date and handled the Reds. He struck out Jonathan India, Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer to start the game. He walked three, including, Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl in the sixth inning and a double play prevented the Reds from ever getting a man of second base. Snell retired the last 13 Reds batters in order, striking out 11. He threw 114 pitches, 78 for strikes.

Andrew Abbott, who will start against Snell tonight (091626), was his mound opponent on that night. 

Abbott pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.

Snell last pitched against the Reds in the first game of the National League Division Series, a 10-5 Dodgers win. He pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk. He struck out nine. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto Says No To Reds O Teoscar Hernandez Says Yes To Dodgers O

        

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Yoshinobu Yamamoto beat the Reds 14-1 in his last start on September 9. Tuesday night (091526) He made the 4-0 win by his Los Angeles Dodgers win over the Reds look just as lopsided.

The Reds were shut out for the 17th time this season.

It was the the 10th win in a row for the Dodgers over the Reds, including the two-game playoff sweep from last season. The Reds dropped to a season-low 11 games under .500 at 70-81. The Reds will have to win all 11 games to break even on the season.

The Dodgers scored in the second inning against Reds' starter, Rhett Lowder. Max Muncy was hit with a pitch and scored when Tommy Edman and Hunter Feduccia singled.

If Teoscar Hernandez doesn't stop hitting Reds' pitchers, he will be on the most wanted poster in every post office in six counties. He hit another two-out, two-run home run off Reds' pitching over the last two games. It was his 15th home run of the season.

He has hit safely against the Reds in 23 straight games. He is now 30-for-81 (.370) lifetime. He has 9-for-13 with three home runs this season in just five games.

Lowder pitched five innings, allowing three runs on five hits, two walks and two hit batters. He struck out four and escaped two innings inducing double play ground balls.

"He threw a lot of pitches. It's a shame. He had a nice three or four pitch inning then it's a walk and a home run." Terry Francona said. "I told him I thought he threw better the last inning and there will be times, I will send him back out there but people forget he didn't pitch a lot of innings last year. His velocity was up a tick."

Julian Garcia took over for the Reds in the sixth inning.

Alex Freeland hit a "Tommy Helms" wall scraper for his fourth home run of the season in the seventh inning. Pierce Johnson wasn't hit hard but it was just inside the foul pole and just where the left field wall bend eight feet toward the foul line.

Tommy Helms famously hit the Reds' first home run at Riverfront Stadium on a ball that just clipped the foul pole.

The Reds third double play was extremely unusual. First of all Graham Ashcraft struck out Teoscar Hernandez which was rare enough. With Kyle Tucker, who walked for the second time. Max Muncy hit a slow ground ball to Juan Brito at third base. Brito was on the infield grass when he made the throw. Sal Stewart took the throw. Tucker saw that third base was undefended and took off for it. Elly De La Cruz took off after him and Stewart hit him on the run, like he was Joe Burrow. De La Cruz dived and applied the tag on the sliding Tucker for the rare 5-6-3 double play.  

"I wish Ashcraft or (Will) Banfield would have covered third but it was a great play," Francona said. 

Yamamoto pitched seven innings for the second straight start against the Reds. In Los Angeles in his last start on September 9, Yamamoto allowed a home run of 444' feet to De La Cruz. He walked Carlos Jorge and De La Cruz the first two batters of the game but retired 20 of the last 21 batters he faced. De La Cruz doubled in the third inning then put down the last 13 batters.

"You know when I talk about our pitchers, you have to respect a couple of pitches with him, you have to respect five," Francona said. 

The Reds last gasp was against Tanner Scott. Pinch hitter Dane Myers walked De La Cruz singled for his second hit to put his average at .286. 

Scott struck out Stewart, pinch hitter Jose Trevino and Eugenio Suarez to finish the game.

Tarik Skubal Shuts Down Reds Dodgers Clinch Playoffs

         

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Tarik Skubal, who joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 2, shutout the Reds for seven innings. The Dodgers posted a 4-1 win.

It is the ninth straight win over the Reds, including two playoff games last season. The Dodgers swept the Reds last week September 7,8,9.

The Dodgers clinched a playoff spot for a record 14th straight year.

Kyle Tucker smashed his 15th home run of the season leading off the second inning. It was the 18th allowed by Nick Lodolo, who grew up in Southern California as a Los Angeles Angels fan.

Teoscar Hernandez hit .779 (7-for-) against the Reds last week in Los Angeles with a triple and a home run. Lodolo got the first two batters in the top of the fourth but walked Tucker. Hernandez hit the 14th home run of the season to put the Dodgers up 3-0.

Teoscar Hernandez walked and stole second as Max Muncy struck out for the second out but Kike Hernandez singled to put the Dodgers ahead, 4-0.

Lodolo pitched seven innings and left trailing 4-0. He only allowed three hits but two were home runs. He walked four and two of them scored. He allowed three runs with two outs and struck out four.

"He gave up three hits but two of them left the ballpark," Terry Francona said. "We just fell behind the wrong guy (Skubal). That's a very good hitting team and we knew that."

Luis Mey relieved Lodolo in the eighth inning.

"Lodolo is very competitive," Francona said. "I don't think you get to this level without being that way."

It was a season-high seven innings.

"I think I made some good pitches early in the count," Lodolo said. "I felt like I had better count control. It allowed me to go deeper there. Obviously, free bases there. That's a really good team. I don't worry about who is on the other side on the mound. You have to worry about doing your job. He (Skubal) is one of the best pitchers in the game, if not the best."

Skubal turned the game over to Alex Vesia in the eighth. Skubal shutout the Reds on three hits, all singles, and a walk. He struck out nine.

Tony Santillan held the Dodgers in the eighth.

The Reds avoided a 17th white wash when Elly De La Cruz hit a monstrous home run against Evan Phillips in the ninth.

It extended De La Cruz career-high to 27 on the season. He has six of them in September with a .284 batting average on the season. If it holds over the Reds last 12 games, it will also be a career high.

His home run is estimated at 457' and appeared to leave the border of the ballpark grounds.

"It didn't tie the game or anything but it was impressive. Maybe I'll pick it up on the way home," quipped Francona, who lives in Newport, Kentucky. 

Reds Return From Long And Winding Road

         

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds odyssey ended on a positive note with a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

It snapped the Reds five-game losing streak and the Brewers five-game winning streak.

Chase Burns started the game. The Reds have put a governor on him to keep his number of innings down. He was scheduled to work three innings with Brandon Williamson taking over.

 Burns gave up two hits and three walks while striking out five. Joe Ortiz hit his ninth home run of the season with Christian Yelich on base off Burns. 

The Reds had little success against Brewers starter, Robert Gasser until Elly De La Cruz singled to start the sixth. Brewers manager Pat Murphy brought in Antonio Senzatela. Sal Stewart greeted him with a single. Eugenio Suarez blasted his 24th home run of the season to put the Reds on top.

Williamson allowed two hits in four innings but one of them was Jake Bauer’s team leading 26th home run to tie the game. 

The Reds made Williamson the winner with a run in the eighth. The Reds pulled a rerun of the sixth. De La Cruz and Stewart singled against Abner Uribe. Suarez popped out to catcher Gary Sanchez in foul territory. Tyler Stephenson, as he’s done all year delivered De La Cruz with a long fly to right.

Brock Burke in his 73rd appearance had mixed results and perhaps a slight case of the yips. Cooper Pratt singled to center. Sal Frelick bunted. Brock fielded it and threw low and away to Stewart at first. The throw pulled Stewart off the base. The Brewers seemed to be in business. The dangerous Jackson Chourio lined a 1-1 pitch up the middle. Burke plucked out of the air and threw to second. That throw was low and away but Juan Brito, the slick fielding rookie scooped it with his foot on the bag to retire Pratt. Jose Trevino caught Frelick stealing with new Reds killer Brice Turang batting.

Emilio Pagan came in to close. Turang singled to start the drama. Pagan struck out Sanchez looking. Bauers hit a ball off the handle which acted like a knuckleball. It twisted and darted toward De La Cruz who got a glove on it to knock it down. He recovered the fumble and flipped to Brito to replace Turang, the Brewers leading base stealer with Bauer. It forced Murphy to summon David Hamilton as a pinch runner. Yelich hit a fly down the left field line. Defensive replacement TJ Friedl made a sliding catch in foul ground to hand Pagan his 23rd save.

The Reds are 70-79 heading into a grinding home stand with four games against the defending World Champion  Los Angeles Dodgers and three more against current Wild Card leaders in the Chicago Cubs. The Red will be eliminated mathematically with a combination of two losses by two wins by the third wild card entry the San Diego Padres.

Reds On The Highway To Hell

         

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Holy home run Batman.

The Reds media pointed to September at the beginning of the season by looking at this month at the start of the season.

The Reds started with the San Diego Padres visiting Great Canadian (by Mark Carney's provincial edict) Ball Park. Followed by six games against the Milwaukee Brewers, seven against the defending World Champion, Los Angeles Dodgers, six against leading playoff contender Chicago Cubs and after all that NL East leader the Atlanta Braves and to top it off the defending WS runner up, the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Reds held their own at GABP (GCBP in Canada) by winning two out of three against San Diego and Milwaukee. Then they hit the road.

They were swept by the Dodgers with the last game a 14-1 embarrassment in which on of the Reds few bright spots, Elly De La Cruz set a new career home run high at 26 with his fifth straight game featuring one of his home runs. 

The tragic number is found in the Reds starting trio the last three games. Rhett Lowder allowed seven runs in the Dodgers' debacle, Andrew Abbott gave up eight runs, seven earned in the 20-0 Brewers win on football Friday in Cincinnati, the 16th white wash the Reds suffered. Last night Brady Singer was touched for eight runs in the Brewers 13-9 win on Saturday (091226).

Jose Trevino pitched three innings, appearing in two straight games. He now has pitched in more games seven than Hunter Greene, five.

The Brewers are a topic of concern among pundits because the have only hit 144 home runs but they have hit five against the Reds in the last two games, including two in new Reds' killer, Garrett Mitchell, who had four hits on Saturday. Never mind they have a low home run totals but lead baseball with 93 wins. 

Since, Brewers manager, Pat Murphy took over for the 2024 season, the club set franchise win records over the last two seasons. With 93 wins with 13 games remaining, the Brewers need to win five of them to set another win record. They need to go 7-6 to win 100 games for the first time in franchise history. 

The Reds are third in baseball with 198 home run which accounts for an inordinate amount of the team's total run tally. The Reds are a season low 10 games under .500 at 69-79.

Reds ace Chase Burns is 15-3 and starting against LHP Robert Gasser 4-5 on the hill for the Brewers. 

Burns will likely be followed by recovering lefty Brandon Williamson as the Reds put a governor on Burns' work load to close out the season. 

Tarik Skubal Pitches Dodgers To Win

       

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Tarik Skubal pitched into the eighth inning in his seventh start for the Los Angeles Dodgers to hold the Reds for a slim 3-2 win.

It was the Dodgers sixth straight win over all and the 10th straight win over the Reds in Dodger Stadium, including two playoff games last season. It also ended the Reds streak at three for winning a series.

Will Smith started the scoring against Nick Lodolo with a home run on a 3-2 pitch in the first inning. It was Smith's seventh home run and ended a nine pitch at bat.

The Dodgers used Lodolo's loss of command to add a run in the second inning. Teoscar Hernandez continued to be a nightmare for the Reds and pitching carefully, Lodolo walked him to start the inning. Miguel Rojas flied out and Alex Call struck out but another Reds' tormentor singled to center. Lodolo walked Enrique Hernandez walked. He hit Tommy Edman to force in the run.

Dane Myers singled with two out in the third. Elly De La Cruz crushed a Tarik Skubal's first pitch 444 ft, the longest home run at Dodger's Stadium this year. It was the 25th of the season to tie De La Cruz' career high. It was the fourth game in a row the De La Cruz hit a home run.

De La Cruz arm saved kept the game tied when Teoscar Hernanez hit a sinking line drive to center. Myers dived for it and it got past him. JJ Bleday chased it down at the wall and threw a relay to De La Cruz. From mid center he threw out Hernandez at the plate with plenty of room to spare.

Lodolo pitched into the fifth inning. 

Mookie Betts walked with one out. Smith was hit by a pitch. Freddie Freeman was called out on strikes on a successful challenge by Jose Trevino for the second out but Teoscar Hernandez second hit of the game scored Betts to put the Dodgers ahead.

Skubal allowed two more hits and two walks through seven innings. Skubal retired Rodriguez on a ground out, then was replaced by Edgardo Henriquez. De La Cruz doubled with two outs to bring the Major League leader in RBI, Sal Stewart, to the plate. He struck out looking on a successful challenge by Smith.

Tanner Scott issued a leadoff walk to Tyler Stephenson in the ninth and pinch runner Carlos Jorge stole second, his first career steal, but Scott struck out Eugenio Suarez and Bleday looking before Trevino grounded to short to end the game. 

Teoscar Hernandez reached base four times with three hits and a walk. He came into the game hitting .324 against the Reds with three home run.

De La Cruz has reached base at least twice in 12 straight games.

Reds Defense And Untimely Walks Gift Dodgers A Win

      

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds defense let the Reds down in an unlikely way as the Los Angeles Dodgers posted a 6-3 win.

The Reds started the scoring when Elly De La Cruz blasted his 24th home run of the season.

 After that Dodgers’ starter Emmet Sheehan retired 14 straight batters.

Reds starter Chase Burns pitched just three innings as the Reds are piggy backing his starts with Brandon Williamson.

Burns allowed just a walk in three innings. He struck out five including Shohei Ohtani the last batter he faced.

The Dodgers got a pair of gift runs in the fifth against Williamson. Teoscar Hernandez single for the Dodgers’ first hit. Williamson got two outs and was 0-2 to Alex Call but hit him in the back foot. Pinch hitter Miguel Rojas hit a slow ground ball to Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base. Hayes who was reactivated from the injured list after a groin injury, threw low and two runs scored. 

The Reds chased Sheehan in the sixth inning. Carlos Jorge singled for his first major league hit. Fellow rookie Hector Rodriguez singled to put runners on the corner with one out. De La Cruz was Sheehan’s 10th strikeout but he walked Sal Stewart to load the bases. Left hander Alex Vesia relieved Sheehan and struck out JJ Bleday to end the threat.

Williamson walked Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy in front of Hernandez’ 13th home run of the season for a 5-1 lead. 

Eugenio Suarez homered against Seth Halverson in the seventh inning. It is Suarez’ 22nd home run of the season and 211th as a Red passing Ken Griffey Jr for ninth on the Reds list.

The Reds chipped away in the eighth against Vesia. Rodriguez second single of the game opened the inning. De La Cruz singled him to third. MLB’s RBI leader with 107 struck out. Pinch hitter Dane Myers, who had 11 pinch hits in the year, grounded out to third to score a run after De La Cruz stole second. 

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth. Tommy Edman reached on Hayes’ second error of the game. It was just the fourth time he’s had a multi error game. Muncy doubled and Hernandez was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs. Kyle Tucker hit a slow ground ball to De La Cruz who charged it and threw off balance to get the force at home. Tejay Atone relieved Williamson. Pinch hitter, Will Smith, hit a fly to center deep enough to score the Didgers’ sixth run.

Williamson pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs, three earned on three hits. He four walks and one intentional walk. He struck out four.

Elly De La Cruz Rescues Bird Then Rescues Reds

       

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

 Elly De La Cruz as the DH was in position to be a hero while the Milwaukee Brewers were in the midst of a three run rally in the Reds 12-8 win over the first place Milwaukee Brewers. 

Jake Bauers homered for the first hit, his team-leading 24th.

 A helpless bird landed in the middle of the first base line. Reds starter Brady Singer tried to shoo it, the ball boy unsuccessfully tried to capture it in his cap. De La Cruz popped out of the dugout and picked up the bird with his bare hands. 

Then as the Brewers were now within a run, De La Cruz said, “bye bye birdie” with his 23rd home run  of the season with a man on in the bottom of the inning.

The 6-3 margin didn’t last long as Singer issued six walks. The Brewers knotted the game in the fifth with three runs, that started with a pair of two out walks to Brewers hitters. Garret Mitchell singled and Brice Turang hit a game tying double before Terry Francona could get someone ready in the bullpen.

Singer got a line out from Pratt to end the inning.

It was Elly De La to the rescue again with a bases loaded two run double off Antonio Senzetels in the bottom of the inning to allow Singer to qualify for a win

Luis Mey pitched a scoreless sixth. Brock Burke extended his career high with his 71st appearance in a scoreless seventh.

Graham Ashcraft fresh off the injured list kicked off some rust with his first appearance since May 25. He walked the first two batters he faced then gave up a run scoring single to Bo Naylor in his first Brewers’ appearance to cut the lead to 9-7. Ashcraft struck out Christian Yelich with the tying run on deck to preserve the lead.

The Reds seemingly put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. 

Matt McLain walked. Rookies Juan Brito and Hector Rodriguez followed with their third hits. Sal Stewart, who drove in his MLB leading 107th run walked to load the bases. Dane Myers, who reached base a career high four times hit a ball hard that eluded David Hamilton in what was scored an error.

That presumably gave Francona a chance to save closer Emilio Pagan.

But troubled brewed in the ninth.

Pierce Johnson got a lead off fly out by Jackson Chourio but walked Bauers and Andrew Vaughn. Turang singled to drive in his third run. Pratt hit a ground ball to McLain at short. Britt’s relay was ruled in time to double Pratt but the Brewers challenged and won.

Now Francona had to summon Pagan, who got pinch hitter Gary Sanchez to earn his 22nd save.