CINCINNATI — Everybody digs the long ball.

Elly De La Cruz, Tyler Stephenson and Matt McLain each homered Saturday night as Cincinnati defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 at Great American Ball Park, evening the three-game series at one game apiece.

Milwaukee struck first right out of the gate when William Contreras led off the top of the first inning with a solo home run, but Cincinnati wasted little time responding. De La Cruz answered in the bottom half with a towering 438-foot blast to straightaway center, tying the game at 1-1. 

The Brewers reclaimed a 2-1 lead in the third after an infield single by Daz Cameron Hamilton, a stolen base and an error helped set up Luis Lara's RBI groundout. Cincinnati answered an inning later when José Trevino lined a two-out RBI single to score JJ Bleday and knot the game once again.

The Reds finally pulled ahead for good in the sixth.

Tyler Stephenson broke the tie with a solo home run to left-center, his 15th of the season, before McLain added a solo shot of his own an inning later to make it 4-2. After Milwaukee cut the deficit to one on Jackson Chourio's sacrifice fly in the seventh, Cincinnati picked up an important insurance run in the eighth when Eugenio Suárez scored on a wild pitch. 

Andrew Abbott allowing two runs — only one earned — over four innings while striking out five before turning the game over to the bullpen. Julian Garcia, Tejay Antone, Tony Santillan, Brock Burke, and Emilio Pagán combined to hold off Milwaukee the rest of the way. Pagán escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to record his 21st save of the season. 

The victory improved Cincinnati to 68-74 and gave the Reds a chance to claim the series in Sunday's finale.

What's Next: The Reds and Brewers wrap up their three-game series Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati will look to secure the series victory before beginning a six-game road trip, which will include a rematch with Milwaukee.