The Cincinnati Reds trailed early on but they came from behind and were able to hang on for a 5-3 win. The series is now tied up at one game for each team after the Milwaukee Brewers won the first game of the series on Friday night.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers (88-55) | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (68-74) | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| W: Santillan (3-4) L: Ashby (13-3) SV: Pagan (21) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Brewers took an early lead when William Contreras hit a 2-out, solo home run in the top of the 1st inning. Their lead didn’t last all that long as Elly De La Cruz tied things up with a 438-foot home run off of the batters eye in center in the bottom of the frame.
That’s where the score stayed until the top of the 3rd inning. After David Hamilton led off with a single Andrew Abbott appeared to have him picked off as he fired to first base, but Hamilton broke for second. Sal Stewart then threw towards the bag but it was wide and went into left field and allowed Hamilton to not only get to second but also take third on the play. He then scored on a groundout as the Brewers took a 2-1 lead.
Cincinnati would get a little something going in the bottom of the 4th inning when JJ Bleday picked up a 1-out single and Eugenio Suarez moved him to third with a 2-out hit. But then the game was put on hold as rain rolled in and the game was delayed for the next two plus hours, including a moment when they pulled the tarp only to put it back on before play started. When the game resumed Jose Trevino had runners on the corners and he came through with a game-tying single.
Two innings later the Reds would take the lead when Tyler Stephenson led off the 6th inning with his 15th home run of the year. They didn’t hold onto the lead for that long as Tony Santillan gave up three straight 1-out singles in the 7th to load the bases and then Jackson Chourio came through with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center to tie things back up. Matt McLain would put the home team back on top about five minutes later when he led off the bottom of the inning with his 15th home run of the season.
Cincinnati would tack on a run in the bottom of the 8th inning with a little help from the Brewers. Eugenio Suarez doubled off of the wall in center with one out. With Jose Trevino at the plate a wild pitch by Grant Anderson got by Gary Sanchez and Suarez took off for third, but as he got there he kept going as Sanchez hadn’t yet located the ball. The throw from Sanchez beat Suarez to the plate but it bounced by a covering Anderson and Suarez slid in safely to make it 5-3.
Emilio Pagan took the mound to start the 9th inning as he looked to seal the win. After striking out Christian Yelich to begin the inning Pagan gave up a double to Gary Sanchez and then walked Jake Bauers. Jackson Chourio then lined a single into left to load the bases and put the tying run into scoring position. Luis Lara would hit a shallow fly ball into left field that Elly De La Cruz would catch for the second out of the inning and hold the runners at their bases. Pagan and William Contreras would battle for a 7-pitch at-bat, but it was the Reds closer who won the battle with a fly out to center to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
The final out of the game that stranded the bases loaded.
Notes Worth Noting
Hector Rodriguez, Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart, and Eugenio Suarez all had 2-hit games.
Tonight was Elly De La Cruz bobblehead night and he homered in the game. Since August 22nd he’s hitting .444/.492/.648 in 13 games. He’s had multiple hits in seven of those games.
Cincinnati pitchers had 14 strikeouts on the night while Reds hitters had 12 of them.
Brock Burke lowered his ERA to 2.54 on the season.
Since coming off of the injured list on July 1st, Emilio Pagan has gone 15-for-15 in save chances while posting a 2.42 ERA.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds
Sunday September 6th, 12:10pm ET
Kyle Harrison (10-4, 3.45 ERA) vs Brady Singer (5-13, 4.83 ERA)
Sal does it all. 2 hits, drew a walk after fouling off pitch after pitch.
Mr. Clutch.
Leads Reds in hits.
Leads Reds in home runs.
Leads Reds in RBI’s.
Reds MVP.
Nice to actually beat Milwaukee.
Ashby has a 13-2 record, unreal, and Reds beat him, unreal. Offense has been scoring runs.
Threw a pickoff ball into left field that directly led to a run scoring for the Brewers. As long as we are discussing that he did it all…
Never said he was perfect. You’re inferring something I never typed. He’s in fact human and errors will be made. By even the best of players.
With all due respect to Sal and the season he is having Elly is the MVP of the team. He’s the 4th most valuable position player in baseball right now according to Fangraphs version of WAR at 4.9. Sal is 62nd at 2.7. Even if we want to give him credit for some of the clutch and I think we should it’s not enough to overcome what Elly has done.
How Sweet is this one ? And we needed it badly !
The Reds rose to the occasion, and kept puttin’ up a run from the 6th inning on …
Holding the Crew to only 3 runs is no small accomplishment either.
Wish I could have followed it as it happened, but it appears there was plenty of drama in both the 8th and the 9th.
Any time you get a chance to play these guys you gotta come out with your A game.
Congratulations to all of you !
Just checked in and saw the headline. Doug does a great job but I’m afraid he made a big mistake this time. He said the Reds beat the Brewers. haha We all know that’s not possible. 😉
As the old saying about a broken clock being right twice a day, this was the Reds 2nd against the Brewers this year. Milwaukee has already won the season series. All that’s left is seeing what the final record is.
reds have score 6 runs/game over the past 9 games. are they finally coming out of a 3 season long slump since the all star break in 2023? or are the pitchers they are facing now just getting tired? I guess time will tell but it has been fun to watch.
if McClain and Stephenson stay hot the reds could have 6 players with more than 20 homers. when was the last time that happened? Too bad steer got injured or they could have had 7.
2017.
I remember it because it’s the ONLY time it ever happened in Reds history.
Votto: 36 HR
Duvall: 31 HR
Schebler: 30 HR
Gennett: 27 HR
Geno: 26 HR
Cozart: 24 HR
They came close in 2010:
Votto: 37 HR
Bruce: 25 HR
Stubbs: 22 HR
Rolen: 20 HR
Phillips: 18 HR
Gomes: 18 HR
Remember though according to a few on here Mclain can’t hit.
He is hitting .190 this season over 385 ABs. Much as I like McLain, it’s an entirely defensible position to say that he can’t hit.
15 HRs and good defense don’t offset the fact that he hasn’t hit in a couple of years. He’s more Hayes than anything else at this point. maybe that changes. We’ll have to wait and see.
McLain was out all of last season with a shoulder injury. Maybe this downer season has been a part of the injury recovery. I wouldn’t give up on McLain too soon.
@TR. That was 2024. He’s had all of 2025 and 2026. He’s hitting .190. He looks at strikes and swings at pitches out of the zone. Terrible pitch recognition and zone awareness. He can’t hit. A few fly balls have carried at GABP. He’s not a starting caliber offensive MLB Player.
McLain has 185 hits in 895 at bats since the start of 2025 to the tune of a .207 average. He’s struck out 287 times as well. He’s trending in the wrong direction. Fast. His 77 OPS+ in that time frame is well below average. Stellar defense doesn’t make up for his offensive shortcomings.
The McLainiacs on here who make excuse after excuse for him is laughable. He’s not a hitter. He’s a nice defensive replacement who plays half of his games in a homerun friendly ballpark.
A series win today would be a good send off for the road trip to LAD and Milwaukee, and then the final home stand with the Dodgers and Cubs. As one who played the game, I favor the ‘Milwaukee Way’ of making contact and getting on base which upsets the opposition more than the occasional home run. Whenever the season starts after the negotiations, I see changes coming on the Red’s offense and in the organization.
Stephenson’s baseball reference WAR is 2.5 which is higher than any full season he’s had so far. Their dWAR has him at 1.2 which is more than double any other season. SIGN QB1! It will be at least another year before Duno is ready and after he is here SteveO should be at C at least 2 of every 5 games and 2 of every 5 at 1B. Sal should be the third baseman. We just need a LH mashing first baseman (a la Lowe) for the other 3 of 5 games at 1B.
It takes two to agree on a contract.
The Reds with five wins since their killer 25 game series began. As I recall, predictions were they wouldn’t win 10 in that stretch.
Also of note. Krall has been continuously criticized all year for deals he didn’t make, especially for a power hitter yet the Reds are in the top five in home runs while the Brewers are in the bottom five. Hitters, not power hitters, appear to make the bigger difference.
The Reds do not need fewer home run hitters. What the Reds need is a couple of high on-base percentage guys to mix in with the power guys.
The issue for the Reds in signing Stephenson is the length of his contract. TS will be in his age-30 season in 2027, assuming the CBA situation does not cancel the season.
Thus, his next contract may be his only chance for a golden parachute contract. At the *least*, he is going to want a contract of similar length to Jose Trevino’s deal with the Reds.
This is 3 years fully guaranteed, with a gift-wrapped guaranteed large mutual or team option payout on a fourth season.
I don’t think the Reds will do this with Duno in the wings unless they see Stephenson as a viable everyday DH or power bat off the bench beyond the second season of the contract.
Surprising and satisfying to see the final. Watched the scoring video clips. Tyler blasted that one!
Back at it in a couple of hours.
I’m worried about old timer he has not posted in 2 days.
Yes, I did. Yesterday and today.
Reds made a mistake not extending Elly earlier. Don’t make the same mistake with Sal. And sign em both. And Stephenson . He’s earned it. They have the money if they will let go of some. Three great ballpayers with Chase Burns to build a team around along with some very nice pieces already on the roster. And loved watching Geno Suarez signing autographs for the kids in the rain delay. If I was a kid he’d be my hero.
Best of luck to Sam Moll. Surprised he wasn’t DFA’d earlier.
Is it me or does Abbott look at bit chunky? Maybe it’s the red jersey but he looked kind of flabby around the waste and slow covering 1st.
Ashcraft up, Moll down. See if Padres pick Moll up. Padres fans will have a good laugh serenading Holy Molly. They have been doing the holy…Sheet thing for a while.
According to Francona ‘we can’t give up on a player like McLain’. No we can’t, but simply because we don’t have any one better and Dont want to spend money to bring in some one better. There’s excuse for his poor year last year but none this year. He is below Mdendoza line.
Isn’t the excuse the same last year as this year? It’s not like his shoulder didn’t get wrecked and he didn’t have surgery on it just because another year went by. He may never be the same again. It is the same excuse. Does not mean the team shouldn’t look for a better option but if he had an excuse in 2025 then he has it in 2026.
Any time we can beat MIL, it’s a measuring stick for the future. I’ll take it.