The Cincinnati Reds dropped their fourth series to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2023 with a 3-0 loss on Wednesday. The story was the same as it has been all season against the Brewers. Milwaukee stymied Cincinnati in all three games with outstanding starting pitching and a dominant bullpen.
Reds starters pitched extremely well and were, unfortunately, let down by their offense… again.
Game One
The series opener was the one that got away. Graham Ashcraft gave up a first-inning run after allowing the first two baserunners to reach safely. For the next five innings, Ashcraft was outstanding and held Milwaukee to six baserunners on three walks and three hits. Then, after already throwing over 100 pitches, Ashcraft gave up a solo home run to Sal Frelick. He then issued a walk to the following batter and left the game.
The bullpen was solid for the next 2 2/3 innings until All-Star closer Alexis Diaz came in. Diaz appeared fatigued and gave up a walk and two singles without recording an out. The Reds lost in walk-off fashion 3-2.
Game Two
The lone victory in the series, game two brought an outstanding pitching matchup. Andrew Abbott went toe-to-toe with Corbin Burnes and won the battle.
Abbott ended his night with a line of six innings, allowing seven hits and one walk, and giving up zero runs. He was in complete control all night and continued his outstanding rookie season in Cincinnati.
Across the diamond, Burnes pitched very well, too. He held the Cincinnati offense to just two runs in six innings, giving up just three hits and walking one batter. His few mistakes came in the fourth inning.
Burnes began the inning by hitting TJ Friedl on the foot with a back-foot slider. Matt McLain drew a walk in the next at-bat and the Reds were in business. Two batters later, Jonathan India reached on an infield single down the third base line which scored TJ Friedl. Joey Votto then hit a bloop single to center field to score McLain and the Reds took a 2-0 lead.
Neither team scored again until the ninth inning. Will Benson hit a two-run home run in the top half of the inning to stretch the lead to four runs. Because of the added insurance runs, David Bell turned to Daniel Duarte with a four-run lead.
Duarte got two quick outs on pop-ups and looked on his way to a solid outing securing a Reds win. He then allowed a walk, infield single and a Christian Yelich home run, consecutively, forcing Bell to bring in closer Alexis Diaz.
Diaz allowed two baserunners but was able to get that elusive third out and earn his 30th save of the season.
Game Three
The Reds matched their season-high in strikeouts in a game with 18 strikeouts. 13 of them came at the hands of Brewers’ starter Freddy Peralta. Peralta gave up just four hits in six shutout innings of pure dominance.
The familiar trio of Elvis Peguero, Joel Payamps and Devin Williams shut out Cincinnati in three innings while striking out five more Reds.
On the other side, Ben Lively was incredible in his 6 2/3 innings. Lively allowed two runs on a Tyrone Taylor two-run home run in the seventh inning, but was flawless otherwise. Fernando Cruz gave up a run in the eighth inning, but it did not matter much since the offense failed to hold up its end of the bargain.
Milwaukee took the game, and series, on a 3-0 shutout.
Who is next?
Surely the Reds are thanking the baseball gods that they do not have to see Milwaukee for the remainder of the regular season. However, the schedule will not get much easier.
Cincinnati will continue their road trip as they travel to Chavez Ravine to take on the first-place Dodgers in a three-game set. The Reds will follow that series up with a four-game series at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs.
Cincinnati is just 1 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. As they look to overtake the Brewers for good, the Reds will have to go through two quality teams on the road to do so.
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Featured image courtesy of Reds.com
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