Brandon Woodruff pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers did all their scoring in the fourth to hand the visiting Cincinnati Reds a fourth straight loss, 3-2 on Tuesday night.
All five of the game's runs were scored in the fourth inning on a night when the teams combined for 25 strikeouts. Milwaukee prevailed to take the first two of the four-game set and win back-to-back home contests for the first time in 2020.
Cincinnati, meanwhile, was held to two or fewer runs for a fourth consecutive contest while dropping to 2-6 on their 10-game road trip.
Woodruff (2-2) retired the first 10 Reds he faced before hitting Nick Castellanos with a pitch in the fourth. Eugenio Suarez later singled with two outs, and ex-Brewer Mike Moustakas lined a two-run single to beat the shift, giving the Reds a 2-0 lead.
The Brewers, though, answered with three runs off Luis Castillo (0-4) in the bottom of the fourth. Christian Yelich scored on first baseman Joey Votto's throwing error, Ben Gamel tied the game with an RBI double off the right field wall, and Orlando Arcia put Milwaukee up 3-2 with a run-scoring single.
Cincinnati looked as if it would go back ahead in the fifth when it loaded the bases to open the inning. However, Woodruff struck out Votto, Gamel threw out Freddy Galvis at the plate on a rare force play from right field, and Jesse Winker popped out to end the frame.
Woodruff pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out eight. Castillo also completed six and struck out nine while yielding three runs (two earned) on five hits and four walks.
Votto was ejected in the eighth inning after striking out for the fourth time. Cincinnati manager David Bell was also tossed after arguing on behalf of Votto.
Milwaukee's Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save. The star reliever has not allowed a run or hit in his nine appearances this year, covering 9 1/3 innings.
--Field Level Media
