CINCINNATI — The Milwaukee Brewers have controlled both the National League Central and the Cincinnati Reds for much of the past several seasons.
But credit the Reds—they stood toe-to-toe with the division leaders this weekend and earned their first home series victory over Milwaukee since 2022 with a 12-8 win Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park. The series win, as well as the series wins against the Cubs and Padres, have given Reds fans a glimpse at what this team could be, though the effort is probably too little, too late.
But, they can only control what they do today, and today Cincinnati wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Tyler Stephenson singled home Dane Myers in the first inning before the Reds added two more runs in the second. An error by Brewers third baseman David Hamilton on a ball hit by Elly De La Cruz helped extend the inning, and Sal Stewart followed with a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 3-0. In the third, newcomer Juan Brito doubled home Eugenio Suárez to make it 4-0.
As they so often have against Cincinnati, the Brewers answered in a big way. Milwaukee scored three runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by Jake Bauers' two-run homer to right-center off Reds starter Brady Singer. Singer then committed a throwing error later in the inning that allowed another run to score, trimming Cincinnati's lead to 4-3.
This time, however, the Reds refused to wilt under the pressure the Brewers always apply. In fact, you could say the Reds out-Brewered the Brewers today.
In the bottom of the fourth, De La Cruz launched a two-run home run to deep right-center, scoring Myers and restoring Cincinnati's cushion at 6-3.
The Brewers responded once again with another three-run inning, knotting the game at 6-6 as if, instead of baseball, this was a heavyweight fight in which both teams were landing blow-after-blow to each other.
Just as they had earlier in the game, the Reds answered immediately.
Cincinnati erupted for three runs in the bottom of the sixth, with De La Cruz delivering a two-run double to put the Reds back in front 8-6. Stephenson followed with another RBI single to score Myers and extend the lead to 9-6.
Milwaukee pulled within 9-7 in the eighth, but the Reds delivered the knockout blow in the bottom half of the inning. Héctor Rodríguez drove home a run with an RBI single before Myers hit a sharp ground ball that Hamilton couldn't handle, allowing both Juan Brito and Rodríguez to score and stretch Cincinnati's advantage to 12-7.
The Brewers made one final push in the ninth, scoring once before Emilio Pagán entered and recorded the final outs to secure the 12-8 victory and the Reds' first home series win over Milwaukee in four years.
What's Next: The Reds head west to begin a series against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Chase Burns is scheduled to start the opener Monday night.
