And the Brewers were dismal on the basepaths, too.
With the score 4-4, Ty France singled with one out in the eighth and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Rece Hinds then walked and was picked off first.
Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio led the eighth with a single and was thrown out trying to steal by Reds catcher Luke Maile. Pinch-hitter Blake Perkins singled with one out in the ninth and Justin Wilson picked him off.
The Brewers scored their free runner in the 10th against Reds closer Alexis Diaz, then the Reds couldn’t score theirs in the bottom of 10th against Brewers closer Devin Williams and Milwaukee prevailed.
And the ugly ledger for the Reds against Milwaukee reads 13-35 over the last 48 meetings, including 6-17 the last two seasons.
Pinch-hitter Brice Turang opened the 10th with a perfect first-pitch bunt single off Diaz, sending free runner Eric Haase to third. The Reds turned a double play, but Haase scored and that was all the Brewers needed.
The Reds were 0 for 30 against Devastating Devin (Williams) and the changeup he calls Air Bender.
Jonathan India began the 10th as the free runner. Williams struck out Elly De La Cruz on a full count checked swing and Spencer Steer flied to left.
TJ Friedl, whose two-run single Thursday in the ninth inning gave the Reds a walk-off win, worked a walk on a full count.
France did everything he could to do some damage. His at bat lasted 10 pitches and he fouled off six. The 10th pitch, though, was a game-ending shallow fly to right.
It was Cincinnati’s 10th loss in 13 games and Milwaukee’s 11th win in 15 games. And it dipped the Reds one-run record to 11-25 while the Brewers are 24-20.
The starting pitchers, Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez and Milwaukee’s Colin Rea were mirror images.
Both are 34, both spent time pitching in Japan, both were low-round draft picks and both are finesse pitchers.
The difference is that Martinez is pitching for a 71-loss team and Rea is pitching for a 78-win team.
On this day, though, they were look alikes on the mound. Martinez pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up four runs, seven hits and two home runs. Rea pitched 4-plus innings and gave up four runs, six hit and two home runs.
The first game of the doubleheader was a makeup of an April 11 rainout and small patches of fans were strewn thoughout the park.
The Reds struck first in the first when Rea dropped a throw covering first on De La Cruz’s ground ball. He took third on Steer’s single and scored on Friedl’s ground ball.
The Brewers tied it in the second on a leadoff home run by Willy Adames, his 16th career homer against the Reds and his 25th this season.
The Reds grabbed a 3-1 lead in second on a home run by Santiago Espinal, a double by Will Benson and a two-out single by De La Cruz.
Milwaukee barged back in front, 4-3, with three runs in the fourth, an inning that began with a home run by William Contreras, the 13th home run in the last four games off Reds pitching.
Sal Frelick added a two-out, two-run single.
India, hit by a pitch in the second inning for the 63rd time during his four-year career, led off the Cincinnati fifth with his 13th homer, tying it 4-4.
Then it became a bullpen battled between one of the best (Milwaukee) and one of the worst (Cincinnati). But it was a standoff until the 10th.
Cincinnati’s bullpen of Buck Farmer, Emilio Pagan and Wilson held the Brewers to no runs and two hits from the sixth through the ninth.
Milwaukee’s bullpen of Ryan Hudson, Joel Payamps, Dared Koenig and Trevor Megill held the Reds to no runs and three hits from the fifth through the ninth.
But Diaz versus Williams in the 10th is no match.
About the Author