Reds

Cincinnati – Sonny Gray allowed only four hits in eight innings and struck out 12 Brewers hitters to help the Reds beat the Brewers 3-0 Wednesday night in Cincinnati.

Yasiel Puig stayed hot, hitting his 19th home run of the season in the second inning. Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin turned in one of his better outings of the season, allowing just two runs over six innings with eight strikeouts.

Milwaukee managed just four singles off Gray, and didn’t have major league home run leader Christian Yelich in the lineup. He was given the day off.

Cincinnati has won two of the first three games in the series. They sent Luis Castillo to the mound on Thursday afternoon against Brandon Woodruff. The Brewers are still a game up on the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central Division.

It’s also been announced that Yelich will be the top seed in baseball’s Home Run Derby, and compete against rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in round one next week in Cleveland.

Chase Anderson – File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Cincinnati – The Brewers bullpen let a 4-2 seventh inning lead get away Tuesday night and fell to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4.

Milwaukee led 4-2 through six innings thanks to more home runs, as Christian Yelich, Mike Moustakas and Eric Thames all went deep off Reds starter Tanner Roark. It was in support of starter Chase Anderson, who allowed two runs over 5.2 innings and just 72 pitches.

Freddie Peralta allowed a run over 1.1 innings, and Cincinnati tied it with a two out RBI double from Joey Votto in the eighth off Matt Albers.

The Reds winning run scored in the eleventh. With two outs Yasiel Puig singled to center. Jose Iglesias singled to right, sending Puig to third. Yelich’s throw to the infield short hopped Thames at first base, as the ball bounced off his glove and rolled through the infield. Puig took off and scored from third to give the Reds a 5-4 win.

Yelich’s homer was his 31st. Moustakas’s was his 24th. The Brewers are 45-40 and lead the Cubs by a game in the N. L. Central