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Cincinnati Reds' Offense Goes Quiet in Loss to Brewers
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- Cincinnati Reds' Offense Goes Quiet in Loss to Brewers
(Michael McLoone-Imagn Images)
The Cincinnati Reds dropped a 4-2 game to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night at American Family Field, where a two-out triple in the seventh inning broke a 2-2 tie the Reds never answered. It was Cincinnati's third straight loss in Milwaukee this week.
Milwaukee grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Andrew Abbott , scoring once on a groundout and once on a sacrifice fly.
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Starting in right field and batting sixth, Noelvi Marte answered in the second. With Tyler Stephenson aboard after a single, Marte sent a two-run homer 378 feet to left field off Brewers starter Shane Drohan , tying the game at 2-2 with his fifth home run of the season.
The offense went quiet from there. Cincinnati managed just two runs on eight hits, went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, struck out 10 times and left five runners on base. Sal Stewart , Marte and JJ Bleday each made the final out of an inning with a runner standing in scoring position.
Stephenson was responsible for two of the eight hits, adding a double to the single that preceded Marte's blast. Elly De La Cruz chipped in a pair of singles.
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Abbott gave Cincinnati a chance despite the shaky first. Working around five walks, the starter held Milwaukee to those two runs on five hits with three strikeouts over five innings, departing at 96 pitches with the game tied. The no-decision left him at 5-4 with a 3.88 ERA and 73 strikeouts over 95 innings through 18 starts this season.
Drohan settled down after the second, finishing with two runs allowed on six hits over 5.2 innings while walking one and striking out seven.
The decisive rally came in the seventh against reliever Brock Burke . With two outs, Garrett Mitchell tripled home Andrew Vaughn to put Milwaukee in front 3-2, and a Burke wild pitch brought Mitchell home to stretch the lead to two. Burke was tagged for both runs in 0.2 innings and fell to 3-4 with the loss.
The rest of the Cincinnati bullpen kept the game within reach. Tejay Antone worked a scoreless sixth, Pierce Johnson added a clean inning of his own and Emilio Pagan got the last out of the eighth. Aaron Ashby earned the win to improve to 12-1, and Trevor Megill finished it off for his 12th save.
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For Marte, the homer was a welcome sign in an uneven season. Through Wednesday, he is hitting .200 with five home runs, eight RBIs and 20 hits across 33 games.
Wednesday's loss dropped the Reds to 39-46, last in the NL Central and 14 1/2 games behind the first-place Brewers, who improved to 53-31. Milwaukee took the first two games of the series 5-3 and 7-2 on Monday and Tuesday.
The Reds will look to avoid a series sweep in Thursday afternoon's finale at American Family Field, with first pitch listed for 2:10.
