The Cincinnati Reds trailed early on Sunday afternoon, but a clutch 3-run home run in the 6th inning from Eugenio Suarez gave them a lead. Milwaukee would tie things up an inning later, but the Reds came through with another run in the 8th and held on from there to top the Brewers 4-3 and end a 5-game losing streak.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (70-79) | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Milwaukee Brewers (93-57) | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Williamson (4-4) L: Uribe (5-3) SV: Pagan (23) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Milwaukee would get on the board first, taking advantage of a walk in the 2nd inning by Chase Burns. Joey Ortiz would follow that walk with a 2-run home run as the Brewers took the lead. Those would be the only two runs Burns allowed in his 3.0 innings. He would turn the game over to Brandon Williamson and the lefty kept the score there through his first two innings.
Cincinnati’s offense would get a rally going in the top of the 6th. A leadoff single by Elly De La Cruz ended the day for starter Robert Gasser. Sal Stewart would welcome Antonio Senzatela to the game with a single of his own. Two pitches later Eugenio Suarez hit a go-ahead 3-run home run as the Reds took their first lead of the series. The lead would last until the bottom of the 7th inning when Jake Bauers led off the inning with a solo homer that tied things up at 3-3.
In the top of the 8th inning it was Elly De La Cruz getting things started again with a leadoff single. Sal Stewart followed up with one of his own, moving De La Cruz up to third base. Tyler Stephenson then came through with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right-center to put Cincinnati up 4-3.
The Brewers would get a leadoff single in their half of the 8th inning. A sacrifice bunt moved Cooper Pratt up to second on the play, but Sal Frelick also got to first as Brock Burke fielded the ball and then threw it in the dirt and Sal Stewart was unable to stay on the bag as he caught the ball. Three pitches later Jackson Chourio hit a liner back up the middle where Burke snagged it and then doubled off Pratt at second base on another throw in the dirt, but Juan Brito made a nice catch on it to complete the double play. Frelick tried to steal second base three pitches later but Jose Trevino threw him out with room to spare to end the inning.
Milwauee had a leadoff single in the bottom of the 9th as they looked to make a comeback. Emilio Pagan would rebound with a strikeout before getting a groundball for a force out. That brought Christian Yelich to the plate. On the second pitch he saw he hit a shallow fly ball into foul territory in left and it hung up just long enough for TJ Friedl to slide in and make a game ending catch as the Reds held on for a 4-3 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Tyler Stephenson’s sacrifice fly in the 8th inning that put the Reds up for good.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart each had a multi-hit game.
Eugenio Suarez homered for the 2nd straight game. Since the trade deadline he’s had 10 home runs and 29 RBI while posting a .940 OPS.
Brock Burke lowered his ERA this season to 2.43 with his shutout inning.
Since returning from the injured list in July, Emilio Pagan has gone 17-for-17 in save chances while posting a 2.19 ERA in 26 games.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Cincinnati Reds
Monday September 14th, 6:40pm ET
Tarik Skubal (9-7, 2.84 ERA) vs Nick Lodolo (3-4, 5.12 ERA)
“Eugenio Suarez homered for the 2nd straight game. Since the trade deadline he’s had 10 home runs and 29 RBI while posting a .940 OPS.”
Some playoff team should have traded for him or picked him up off waivers.
I’m glad he’s doing better but I personally don’t want him next year for $15M unless the budget is increased.
Yeah, you probably do want him back. Worth vastly more than Hayes, Friedl, McLain, and a host of others
I think it depends who they bring in. To me they need line drive hitters who can go opposite way and well hit gap to gap.
I agree but I’d much rather invest that money in trying to land Arraez.
Well, dream on about signing Arraez. He likely will want 5 years, and over $100 million.
Likely he signs with the Phillies. Unlikely he would want to sign with the Reds. For the Reds to sign any free agent, they will have to over-pay.
“For the Reds to sign any free agent, they will have to over-pay.”
If I was going to overpay for a player Arraez is one that I would. This team needs him in the worst way.
I don’t mind necessarily bringing back Suarez but if I had to choose between the two it would be Arraez all day every day.
Suarez wasn’t worth vastly more than much of anybody until after the trade deadline, by which point the Reds were no longer in realistic contention. He apparently has a bit of a history as a slow starter. He will be a year older. It may be the case that the Reds do nothing during the off-season and he would still be the best choice for DH, but if that proves to be the case, why would we care?
Suarez is on a mutual option for $15m in 2027 with no buyout cost. So, there is no incentive for him to walk away unless he just wants to get out of Cincinnati or is sure someone else is going to pay him more.
But couldn’t the Reds exercise their 2027 option on him just to have him as trade bait if nothing else? Yeah, this might be a bit of seemingly backwards logic. But if somebody is looking for a bridge player who might hit 30 or more home runs, presuming a full season, $15m is not a bad price. It could cost them more to sign such a guy for one year with no future strings attached.
It is a mutual option for $15m with no buyout cost. So, there is no incentive for Suarez to walk away unless he just wants to get out of Cincinnati or is sure someone else is going to pay him more.
This is presuming he doesn’t totally crash (or get injured in a way that linger) in the next 2 weeks?
That would be too much of a risk. No team wanted him this year. haha
I’d take Suarez back. With the way he has been hitting in the second half, he’s a bargain at 15 million.
A 30 HR guy (150+ games) with a 750+ OPS is probably a $15M get. We don’t have any of those after Sal and Elly. Geno is also a great teammate. Close call.
Given my drathers, I think I would rather have a Geno plus guy (800 OPS) who would have some speed and could play 1B, 3B, or CF. That probably would cost me $20M but I would be in on that. But that is probably not a Reds thing so just give me another year of Geno at “zero” cost.
Seven wins since the schedule got brutal.
Yep and 8 losses.
Suarez has had some big homeruns this year. Overall having the year I thought he would have considering he was a out a good portion of time with injuries. I would like to see him in a reds uniform next year.
Say what you want about Francona they are winning a lot of the close games they are competitive in. Problem is they have been blown out so many times this year.. but that is out of his control. Hope he stays another year as well.
Agree, they should pickup the option on Geno!
The Reds probably waited for a win to announce Krall and Co. all returning next year. Just wow.
“We gotta make better decisions” “ultimately responsibility falls on me”, etc. All sweet, corporate empty words but it got the job done for Krall. He got the job for another year.
“We gotta make better decisions,” then in the offseason he’ll give $23-24 million to Singer after having a 5+ ERA.
If, as Krall expects, the front office returns intact for next season, the Reds can expect their fan base to NOT return intact for next season!
The article I’ve seen is Krall telling Wiyttenmyer (Cincinnati(.)com) that he has had a talk with his bosses, and he is planning to be back and bringing everyone back with him. That’s disheartening, but it is not the gospel directly from Big Bob or SonPhil.
Krall would not be the first guy trying to save his job and those who work for him by preemptively falling on his sword in public about what has happened and pledging to do better next time around.
And then there are the rumors that the team could be on the clock to be sold. Bringing everyone back would fit that scenario too.
Here’s the story link:
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2026/09/13/reds-front-office-return-2027-nick-krall/91749192007/
It seemed not to be behind the paywall for me. But it is also up on MSN. I just did not try to copy that link because I’ve seen briefer novels. Google for it if you need to, “Nick Krall Cincinnati Reds” 😉
“That’s disheartening, but it is not the gospel directly from Big Bob or SonPhil.”
Wouldn’t that be something if he was wrong? 😀
“And then there are the rumors that the team could be on the clock to be sold”
And the rumor also that the Reds were going to offer EDLC $700 M for 13 years. Most likely both baloney. However, if you were an owner and wanted to sell your franchise wouldn’t it be more appealing and worth more if EDLC was already locked up?
There was never a rumor that the Reds could be the next team on the block to be sold. There’s a difference between a rumor and “we asked some people who they thought could be next”.
“There’s a difference between a rumor and “we asked some people who they thought could be next”.
That’s right. If they would have asked me I would have said the same thing. 😉
@Doug> Upon review, “speculation” would have been a better word than “rumors” in that context. 😉
However, there is a part of me that feels like when Nightengale repeats the speculation of “Rival owners” who “predict the Cincinnati Reds could be the next MLB team sold”. That is verging on making it a rumor.
I had the same thought, Jim.
Glad this group of professionals rallied to end the slide. Good win today.
Suarez hit some big time HRs this year.
Unexpected but Williamson was able to keep Brewers in check and deserved the W. No embarrassing pen collapse for a change.
“But Krall said it himself: the responsibility ultimately falls on him.
“Look, at the end of the day, I oversee our baseball operations department, so it’s on me,” he said.”
So why are you still here Mr. Krall?
The paycheck is a big one.
I’m sure it’s a million +. “It’s my fault but I’ll keep taking those pay checks as long you keep giving them to me”. He’s no dummy in that regard.
Nice W for Reds today. Some WLW 700 tidbits:
Now 25-15 in one run games. Best in MLB.
Pagan 23 of 26 on saves. All other Reds relievers (combined) are 17 of 36 on saves.
HR #199 for Reds by Suarez today. His personal #213 as a Red.
Great catch by Friedl in LF to end the game.
I can’t believe nobody picked up Geno on waivers. Plenty of bad GMs asleep at the wheel. I tend to keep forgetting about Williamson, and I doubt he’d last 60 innings, but pencil him in because we don’t have anyone else?
Burns, AA, Lodolo, Ashcraft, and Williamson. Let Lowder figure it out in long relief. Pretty weak, but 2027 probably won’t happen anyway
Without Greene and Singer, we need more than 5-6 fragile starters. We will especially miss Singer’s “never miss a start”. Not his 5.3 ERA. We need that #5 starter who will give us a 175 innings and a 4 ish ERA. If he goes 10-12 even better. That probably still isn’t enough pitching if we are planning to run with the Cubs and Brewers.
Brandon Williamson finally could stop the bleeding alongside Burke and Pagán who closed out the game. Williamson didn’t walk or hit no one so he could limit the damage to a solo homer though 4 frames. If Williamson can avoid walking batsmen and has good command then he could be a solid pitcher.
Geno has been making up his numbers last month reaching near 100 OPS+ at this point although his K% is still awful…
Elly keeps hitting pretty well and hard….
We’ll see if the Reds pitching can rebound against the Dodgers starting tomorrow …
Williamson likely not 100% yet this year, after being out with a strained shoulder for a long time. Still building strength in his arm and shoulder….it’s not just velocity, but physical strength over all to have consistently good pitching mechanics.
The Franken-Pitching combo did the job and Pagan finished well. Beating Bernie in his house is always a good thing.
Here’s how I celebrated: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JngggKY7A_Z-10DnRQ3_51lAD_yD5gxW/view?usp=sharing
hahaha Those look GOOD. MMMM