On the other side, Milwaukee pitchers held the Reds to one hit, a double by Jose Barrero in the third inning.
Starter Adrian Houser gave up that hit and the one run, then Taylor Rogers, Matt Bush and Brad Boxberger, a Reds’ No. 1 draft pick, shut it down.
Over six innings Houser didn’t strike out a hitter, but Rogers and Bush struck out five in two innings. And the last 13 Reds went down in order.
Reds starter Chase Anderson, a former Brewer, was greeted rudely by his former teammates in the first inning. He walked Christian Yelich and Willy Adames bounced one off the top of the wall and over it for his 27th home run.
The Brewers had a 2-0 lead before Anderson retired a batter, but from there he was in complete command.
He gave up nothing more through four innings, no runs, no hits, three walks and five strikeouts on 84 pitches.
Reiver Sanmartin retired the first two in the fifth, then ran into problems. Yelich doubled down the left-field line. Adames was walked intentionally so he could face Rowdy Tellez.
Tellez struck out his first two times and was 9 for 60 with 17 strikeouts. After getting two strikes on him, Sanmartin walked him to fill the bases.
Fernando Cruz, the 34-year-old rookie, replaced Sanmartin and went to 3-and-2 on Hunter Renfroe before retiring him on a fly ball to center. The out ended the inning and Cruz danced a jig leaving the mound.
The Reds could muster only one run and one hit off Houser over six innings.
Jose Barrero stole a run off him in the third. He drove one to right field and never stopped, hustling into second for a double. He stole third on the next pitch and scored on T.J. Friedl’s sacrifice fly.
Cruz pitched the sixth and went 1-2-3 with two strikeouts, but the Brewers added a run in the seventh against Ian Gibaut.
Left fielder Jake Fraley tried to make a diving catch on Tyrone Taylor’s fast-sinking line drive. The ball hippity-hopped past him for a triple. Yelich singled up the middle and it was 3-1.
Taylor Rogers took the mound in the seventh and went 1-2-3 with two strikeouts. Matt Bush was the pitcher in the eighth and struck out the side.
There was some adventure after the second strikeout, a checked swing call on Barrero by first base umpire Manny Gonzalez, who made the strike three call with extra oomph.
Reds manager David Bell took extra displeasure with Gonzalez’s hijinks and was ejected for his high-octane display.
Joel Kuhnel let it get out of hand in the eighth by giving up a double to Renfroe and a 425-foot dead-center home run to Andrew McCutchen, turning a 3-1 lead to 5-1.
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