The Reds had a lead, a chance, and then one bad inning blew the whole thing open.
Cincinnati went into the fifth up 6-4, but an error helped Milwaukee ignite a five-run frame that flipped Friday night’s game on its head. The Brewers rolled from there and beat the Reds 10-7, handing Cincinnati another frustrating reminder of how quickly things can unravel against the best team in baseball.
The loss dropped the Reds to 67-74, and it also pushed their season record against Milwaukee to 1-7. Against a club with the best record in the majors, the margin for mistakes was as thin as it gets, and the Reds paid for nearly every one of them.
Rhett Lowder was never really able to settle in. He got through a scoreless first, but the second inning turned on him when Cooper Pratt grounded out to bring home Brice Turang and tie the game at 1-1. David Hamilton followed with a triple down the right-field line, and Milwaukee had the lead.
Lowder’s trouble didn’t stop there. In the third, he walked William Contreras, and Turang hammered a two-run double off the right-field wall to put the Brewers up 4-3.
By the fifth, the outing had fully slipped away. The first three batters reached, the bases loaded, and Lowder was out of the game.
The most alarming part was the workload. Lowder threw more than 100 pitches while walking four in just four innings, a clear sign his command was off and Milwaukee was comfortable waiting him out.
Then came the play that cracked the game wide open. Elly De La Cruz booted what would have been a double-play ball in the fifth, giving the Brewers new life and loading the bases with nobody out.
Cincinnati turned to Sam Moll, and the inning quickly went sideways. Moll hit a batter to force in a run, gave up a three-run triple, and then allowed another run on a wild pitch.
Just like that, a 6-4 Reds lead had become a 9-6 Brewers advantage.
The Reds had actually done some real damage offensively before the collapse. Matt McLain launched a line-drive homer just over the left-field wall in the second inning to put Cincinnati back ahead 3-2 after Milwaukee had moved in front. Then, after the Brewers regained the lead in the third, Eugenio Suárez answered with a three-run blast of his own to give the Reds a 6-4 edge.
Suárez missed the previous two games while completing the naturalization process, and he marked his first game as an American citizen with a big swing. It was a timely lift for a Reds lineup that had been coming off a promising stretch, including series wins against playoff contenders.
Cincinnati will try to bounce back in the second game of the series Saturday evening. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m.
E.T., with Andrew Abbott (6-10, 4.49 ERA) expected to oppose Dustin May (6-9, 4.69 ERA). Abbott is coming off a rough outing against the Cubs, when he allowed seven runs over three innings.
In Other News...
Reds Just Found An Intriguing New Outfield Depth Option
The Reds added another name to their outfield mix this week, signing Dominic Fletcher to a minor league contract and sending him to Triple-A Louisville. For a club that is always weighing depth as the season wears on, Fletcher brings a little more experience to the stash in case the major league roster needs help down the line.
Fletcher has already gotten a taste of the big leagues with the Diamondbacks and White Sox, and he arrives in the organization after opting out of a minor league deal with the Pirates. Cincinnati will take a close look at him in Louisville as it evaluates whether he can become useful outfield insurance, the kind of move that rarely grabs attention now but can matter later if injuries or underperformance thin the group. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Give Carlos Jorge A Shot At A Role They Need Right Now
The Reds made a roster move that points straight to an immediate need, selecting outfield prospect Carlos Jorge's contract ahead of their series opener against the Brewers. To clear space, Cincinnati optioned Ivan Johnson to Triple-A Louisville and shifted Michael Toglia to the 60-day injured list, opening a door for Jorge, a 22-year-old converted infielder whose defense and speed have helped him climb into the conversation even while he sits just outside the clubs top 15 prospects.
Jorge has spent this season grinding through 88 minor-league games, and the call-up gives the Reds a chance to see whether his athleticism can translate to a role at the big-league level right away. For a team in search of help on the roster, the move is less about long-term projection than the possibility that a player with his profile can provide a useful answer when the need is immediate. [Read more 🡒]
Matt McLain Just Became A Bigger Reds Concern Than Fans Expected
With the Reds unlikely to make a postseason push this year, the rest of the schedule has turned into a long evaluation period for the future. That puts plenty of attention on Matt McLain, who arrived as one of the organizations more encouraging young pieces but has not followed up his rookie season the way Cincinnati hoped. His spot in the lineup still matters, because the Reds are trying to sort out which parts of the core can be counted on when next season arrives.
Ryan Phillips of Sports Illustrated recently ranked Cincinnati 23rd in the league and singled out McLain as a player to watch over the final stretch. That kind of spotlight says plenty about where the conversation has shifted: the Reds are not just waiting for wins now, they are trying to learn whether a player who once looked like a building block can still become one. For a club already eyeing the offseason, McLains progress has become a much bigger question than fans probably expected. [Read more 🡒]