Volquez Is Better But Brewers Poised to Dethrone Reds With 10-1 Victory

Edinson Volquez had a disappointing season along with his Cincinnati teammates but even a better outing wasn't good enough

Yovani Gallardo struck out a career-high 13 and Ryan Braun hit his third home run in two nights to help the Milwaukee Brewers inch closer to a Central Division championship with a 10-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

Volquez and Gallardo faced each other on opening day.  Gallardo pitched well but the Brewers lost. Volquez had a rocky start but the Reds pulled it out, then.  The tables have turned.

Volquez spent two months in Louisville trying to get straightened out.

 "Volquie had good tempo and good velocity.  He threw more strikes," Dusty Baker said.

Yuniesky Betancourt also homered and Gallardo pulled off the rare feat of striking out four batters in one inning as the Brewers lowered their magic number to five with their fourth win in their last five games and St. Louis's loss at Philadelphia.

 "My outing wasn't bad," Volquez said. "I made a mistake to Betancourt."

 The Reds were listless against the Brewers, who are close to dethroning the Reds as Central Division champions.

The loss came on the night that the Reds dedicated a statue to its Hall of Fame catcher, Johnny Bench.

"I don't think we impressed Johnny too much with our performance.  Volquez threw the ball good he just made one mistake.  The first run came on a bloop by Braun.  He was good until the seventh then he walked (Craig) Counsel and hit (Nyjer) Morgan and things began to unravel."

Any combination of Milwaukee wins and Cardinal losses adding up to five gives the Brewers their first division championship since 1982, when they won the American League East.

Gallardo's previous single-game strikeout high was 12, which he'd reached four times, including last Sunday. He threw 117 pitches, 75 of them strikes, in his six innings, giving up just two hits, one run, and two walks.

Gallardo (17-10) became the second pitcher in Milwaukee to strike out four batters in one inning when Brandon Phillips reached on a third-strike wild pitch with two outs in the fifth. Edgar Renteria struck out swinging to end the inning.

Drew Stubbs struck out twice against Gallardo, pushing him to 195 for the season. That ties the club record set by Adam Dunn in 2004.

 Milwaukee grabbed a first inning lead against Reds starter Edinson Volquez. Corey Hart led off by grounding a double between third baseman Juan Francisco and the bag. He moved up on Nyjer Morgan's groundout to second and scored on Braun's broken-bat bloop single to short center field.

Volquez (5-6) has allowed at least one first inning run in nine of his 18 starts. He lasted 6 2-3 innings, giving up six hits and five runs with three walks, six strikeouts and one wild pitch. He also hit a batter.

Volquez is determined to get back his form.

"I want to be more aggressive and throw more strikes," Volquez said.

Yonder Alonso tied the score with a home run to lead off the second inning. The 382-foot drive on Gallardo's 3-1 pitch appeared to glance off the glove of leaping center fielder Nyjer Morgan and land in the first row of seats.

The Brewers regained their one-run lead in the fourth on Betancourt's 12th homer of the season, a 391-foot shot into the right-center field seats on a 2-2 pitch with two outs. His two-out single in the sixth drove in Morgan from second, giving Milwaukee a 3-1 lead. Braun added his 31st homer, a three-run shot into the left field seats off of Jose Arredondo, in the seventh.

Mark Kotsay had a pinch-hit, three-run double in Milwaukee's four-run eighth.

Notes: The Reds unveiled a statue of Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench outside of Great American Ball Park before. He was honored in pre-game ceremonies, which included seeing a portion of the street surrounding the ballpark renamed "Johnny Bench Way," and he threw a ceremonial first pitch to his former teammmate, Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan. ... Brewers 2B Rickie Weeks didn't start Saturday after slightly aggravating the left ankle injury that forced him to miss 39 games from July 27 to Sept. 8. ... Reds C Ryan Hanigan and Ramon Hernandez both were sidelined on Saturday, Hanigan with back spasms and Hernandez with a bruise on his left shin after a foul tip on Friday. ... LHP Dontrelle Willis will take his 13th stab at win No. 1 of the season when he starts Sunday against the Brewers. Willis, 0-6 since being called up from Triple-A Louisville on July 10, has been victimized by three blown saves, including his first start at Milwaukee. ... Brewers RHP Zack Greinke is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts in Cincinnati.