Christian Yelich homered and drove in two runs and three relievers combined on 3 1/3 scoreless innings as the visiting Milwaukee Brewers rallied for a 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
The Brewers’ bullpen was the story of the three Milwaukee wins, holding the Reds scoreless for a total of 9 1/3 innings. Closer Devin Williams saved all three games, including Sunday’s win for his 23rd save in 25 chances this season.
Milwaukee not only swept the weekend series, but also claimed five of the six consecutive meetings around the All-Star break to leave with a two-game lead over Cincinnati in the National League Central.
The Brewers have beaten the Reds in eight of their 10 meetings this season, and 26 of the past 35 overall.
Lefty reliever Hoby Milner (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth for his first big-league win since June 12, 2022, while Milwaukee won for the sixth time in its past seven games.
Matt McLain had three hits for the Reds, who lost their fourth straight and fifth in six games after winning 20 of 24.
In the eighth inning, Reds reliever Lucas Sims (3-2) walked Willy Adames and yielded a single to former Red Jesse Winker that moved Adames to third.
On Owen Miller’s sacrifice fly to TJ Friedl in center to tie the game, Friedl made a critical mental mistake. He overthrew the cut-off man, allowing pinch-runner Tyrone Taylor to advance to second base. With two outs, and facing closer Alexis Diaz, Andruw Monasterio fought off an inside fastball and singled to right field to score Taylor with the go-ahead run.
After a scoreless first inning ran Cincinnati’s scoreless drought to 28 innings, the Reds finally snapped out of it in the second on Joey Votto’s line drive double to the left-center field gap. The hit scored Jonathan India from first base and gave Cincinnati a 1-0 lead.
The next batter, Spencer Steer, was called out on a pitch that he argued was clearly outside. Reds manager David Bell, feeling the frustration of a pending three-game sweep, immediately came out of the dugout to defend Steer and was ejected by home plate umpire Edwin Jimenez.
The Brewers answered in the third when Yelich crushed a hanging breaking ball from Cincinnati starter Ben Lively an estimated 439 feet to the smoke stacks in right-center for his 13th homer of the year and a 1-1 tie. Lively left after four innings as a precautionary measure due to cramping and dehydration.
–Field Level Media
