Justin Smoak had two hits during a six-run 6th inning, including a two-run single, and the Milwaukee Brewers evaded a three-game series sweep at the hands of the visiting Cincinnati Reds with a 9-3 win on Sunday.
Subsequent to adding up to four runs in losing the initial two games of the series, the Brewers broke out to rescue a game in the end of the week set. Smoak and Keston Hiura each had three hits as Milwaukee scored eight times over the 6th and 7th innings to record its first home triumph of 2020.
Jesse Winker went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs for Cincinnati, which opened the scoring in the first inning. After walks to Nick Castellanos and Eugenio Suarez, Winker conveyed a RBI single to left-center field for a 1-0 lead.
Milwaukee tied it in the base of the third through Christian Yelich’s two-out RBI triple into the right-field corner. Winker, however, came through again in the fourth with a solo homer profound into the right-center field seats to give the reds a 2-1 center.
The Brewers broke out by pursuing Reds starter Sonny Gray in the 6th after Manny Pina’s RBI single tied the game at 2-2. Hiura followed with a go-ahead, run-scoring single — charged to Gray — off reliever Michael Lorenzen. Lorenzen then gave back to back bases-stacked walks that gave Milwaukee a 5-2 edge. Smoak tore things open with his two-run single to make it 7-2.
Gray (3-1), who won his initial three beginnings with a 0.96 ERA, permitted four runs, six hits, walked three and struck out seven more than 5 1/3 innings.
Yelich and Hiura each hit solo homers in the seventh for Milwaukee, which defeated a slow excursion from starter Brandon Woodruff. Like Gray, Woodruff was strong while posting a 2.08 ERA in his initial three beginnings, yet he kept going only four innings, surrendering two runs, two walks and three hits while working through 91 pitches.
Brent Suter (2-0) got the success for Milwaukee with two innings of shutout alleviation.
