KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Swept By Milwaukee Brewers

The Cincinnati Reds are back to 20 games under .500. Now losers of four straight, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds are sitting at 23-43 overall. The pitching staff is giving up home runs at a high rate and the offense is failing to score enough runs to compensate. Whatever hope of a season turnaround remained is quickly disappearing in Cincinnati.

Following a Monday off, the Reds will get back in action at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday with a matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The three-game set has a first pitch scheduled for 4:40 p.m. Eastern Time with Tyler Mahle taking the mound. Also scheduled to start are Luis Castillo and Hunter Greene.

Comeback Attempt Not Enough to Take Series Opener

A pair of home runs by the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth and fifth innings dug a 4-0 hole for the Cincinnati Reds. First, it was a three-run blast by Hunter Renfroe. Then, Willy Adames hit one 437 feet in the fifth. However, it didn’t take long for the Reds to reset the game in the middle innings. Albert Almora Jr. put Cincinnati on the board in the bottom half of the fifth with a two-run homer. In the sixth inning, back-to-back home runs by Brandon Drury and Tommy Pham tied the game at 4-4.

The baseball continued to fly out of Great American Ball Park in the seventh inning as the Brewers would answer the Reds’ run with a solo shot of their own to retake the advantage 5-4. That run would prove to be enough as Devin Williams and Brad Boxberger shut the Reds down in the final two frames to secure the 5-4 win. A total of six home runs accounted for all nine runs in this game.

Early Deficit Topples the Reds Once Again

For the second straight night, the Cincinnati Reds fell behind early on in the game and couldn’t overcome their deficit. The Brewers wasted no time scoring in the first inning on Saturday. Then, Willy Adames connected on a two-run home run in the top of the third. Milwaukee held a 4-0 lead after three innings and was able to cruise the rest of the way.

Cincinnati got on the board in the fifth and scored twice more in the sixth, but it never got closer than 6-3. Hunter Renfroe tacked on a home run in the seventh for the Brewers to set the eventual final score of 7-3.

Saturday was the first less than stellar starting pitching performance for Reds rookie Graham Ashcraft. The 24-year-old was saddled with six runs on eight hits in his five innings of work and took his first MLB loss. However, he is still an impressive 3-1 with a 3.51 earned run average.

Reds Swept by Brewers With Sunday Loss

Another night, another crooked number deficit by the Cincinnati Reds in the early innings. The Brewers pushed three runs across in the fourth including a two-run home run by Victor Caratini to take the lead. However, the Reds answered in the bottom half of the inning with three runs of their own. Kyle Farmer got the scoring started and then Albert Almora Jr. doubled in a pair of runs to tie the game at three runs a piece.

In the end, the Brewers offense was just too much. A sacrifice fly in the sixth followed by a 444-foot, two-run home run by Hunter Renfroe in the seventh set the final score of 6-3. The long ball was Renfroe’s third in as many games against the Reds.