The Brewers spent most of the night chasing missed chances, but the game turned when Milwaukee finally got the big swings it had been waiting for. Joey Ortiz’s two-run homer in the eighth gave the Brewers the lead for good, Brice Turang had already tied it with a blast of his own, and Milwaukee walked away with a 5-3 comeback win over the Reds.
It wasn’t clean. The Brewers finished 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.
But they kept putting pressure on Cincinnati, and that persistence eventually cracked the game open. Robert Gasser gave Milwaukee a solid start, Chad Patrick and Aaron Ashby handled the middle innings, and Trevor Megill closed the door in the ninth.
Cincinnati got on the board first in the opening inning. Gasser struck out Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart to start the night, then watched Spencer Steer extend the frame with a single to right.
After JJ Bleday drew a walk, Dane Myers ripped a double down the left field line to score Steer and move Bleday to third. Gasser stopped the damage there by freezing Noelvi Marte with a called third strike at the bottom of the zone.
The Reds added to the lead in the fifth when De La Cruz turned on a 90 mph fastball up and in and drove it over the fence in left-center for his thirteenth home run of the season.
For the Brewers, the early innings were all about traffic without payoff. Nick Lodolo wasn’t at his sharpest, walking four and hitting William Contreras over five innings, but Milwaukee still had trouble turning those opportunities into runs. The Brewers managed just one hit - a Sal Frelick double - through the first five innings, though they did put at least one runner on base in every inning except the fifth.
That changed in the sixth against reliever Chase Petty. Andrew Vaughn doubled, Christian Yelich walked, and Jake Bauers lined an RBI single into right to bring home Milwaukee’s first run.
Frelick then worked a walk on a pitch that would have hit him had he not jumped out of the way, and the ball got past Tyler Stephenson for a wild pitch that let Yelich score from third. Just like that, the Brewers were within 3-2.
David Hamilton, pinch-hitting for Cooper Pratt, and Ortiz were retired to end the inning, but the momentum had shifted.
Patrick took over for Gasser with two outs in the sixth and kept Cincinnati quiet in the seventh, working around a couple of baserunners. Then came Turang in the bottom half. With one out, he crushed a monster homer to center field and tied the game at 3-3.
Ashby followed with a scoreless eighth, even after Marte reached on an infield single and later moved up on a throwing error by Ortiz.
Milwaukee went right back to work in the bottom of the eighth. Bauers flied out to open the frame against Sam Moll, Frelick singled to left, and Hamilton bunted him to second.
That brought up Ortiz again, and this time the matchup tilted in his favor. Reds manager Terry Francona went to right-hander Tejay Antone, and Ortiz made him pay.
After taking a strike and a ball, Ortiz jumped on a sweeper down in the zone and launched it 412 feet over the center-field wall for a go-ahead two-run homer, his second of the season.
Megill finished it off in the ninth with an order-retiring inning capped by a swinging strikeout of De La Cruz. Ashby earned his 11th win of the season, and the Brewers moved back to 20 games over .500.
Milwaukee didn’t make it easy on itself, but the result was the same as it’s been so often lately: the Brewers hung around long enough to find the swing that mattered.
The teams meet again Tuesday at 6:40 p.m., with Brandon Sproat set to face Rhett Lowder (3-5, 4.81 ERA).
In Other News...
Brewers Turn To A Long Awaited Arm As Bullpen Pressure Builds
With the bullpen taking on more and more importance in a season that has already started with a franchise-best 51-31 record through 82 games, the Brewers turned to a familiar name in the system and gave Garrett Stallings a long-awaited opportunity. Milwaukee brought up Stallings from Triple-A Nashville and sent Robert Gasser to the Arizona Complex League to clear a spot, adding another arm at a time when every inning in the middle and late frames matters more than ever.
Stallings arrived in the organization through a 2024 trade with the Baltimore Orioles, and his media session reflected just how long he has worked for this moment. He spoke about the path through the minors and the weight of finally getting the call, with more than enough mileage logged along the way to make this promotion feel earned even before he throws a pitch for Milwaukee. [Read more 🡒]
Pat Murphy's Cooper Pratt Decision Will Have Brewers Fans Talking
Cooper Pratts early run in the majors has been a reminder that even the Brewers best prospects can need time to settle in. The infield prospect was promoted earlier this year, but the offense has lagged behind the expectations that come with that kind of move, leaving Milwaukee to balance patience with the day-to-day demands of a contending lineup.
Pat Murphys decision to sit Pratt for Game 2 against the Reds only added to the conversation, especially with the club still trying to chart his long-term path. The numbers have been uneven since the call-up, but the Brewers have seen this before with young players who needed a slower climb, and the comparison to Brice Turangs early growing pains is one reason Pratts development remains such a watchable subplot. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Could Finally Face A First Round Draft Dilemma
The Brewers are headed toward one of the more interesting decisions of their draft season, with their first-round selection sitting at No. 25 in 2026. That is late enough to put them in a different kind of board than usual, and it comes after a stretch in which they have leaned toward position players with their first-round choices since 2020. This time, though, the pool could force a rethink.
Several college arms are expected to be within reach, and that is where the debate starts to get real. Tennessee right-hander Tegan Kuhns, Arizona State left-hander Cole Carlon and Mississippi right-hander Cade Townsend all fit the kind of upside that can pull a club off its usual path, which leaves Milwaukee weighing whether to stay with its recent draft tendencies or finally take a pitcher in the first round again. [Read more 🡒]