Milwaukee beat Cincinnati 8-2 on Friday, breaking up a close game with five runs in the ninth inning in front of a crowd of 26,130 at Great American Ball Park. The gap between first and last in the National League Central Division is now 14½ games. The Brewers are 7-1 against the Reds this season and have won seven in a row in the series for the first time.
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Keon Broxton drove in two runs for the Brewers in the first four innings. His single scored Ryan Braun in the second. Then he hit a solo home run in the fourth.
Michael Lorenzen hit his second pinch-hit home run of week to get the Reds on the board in the sixth. He cut the Brewers’ lead to 2-1 with a line drive into the stands in left. He hit a home run Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.
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The Brewers scored an insurance run in the eighth thanks to some help from the Reds. The Reds had Broxton picked off third base, but he avoided the tag and retreated to third base. Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart instead threw to second base to get Orlando Arcia, but Broxton broke for home on the play and scored when Billy Hamilton’s throw to the plate was wild.
In the ninth, Kyle Crockett and Jackson Stephens combined to allow three earned runs on five hits. Two more runs were unearned.
The Reds’ Eugenio Suarez drove in a run in the ninth. It was his league-leading 60th of the season.
Sal Romano (4-8, 5.30 ERA) started for the Reds and allowed two earned runs on seven hits in five innings.
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