The coup de grace was a first-pitch three-run home run delivered by Milwaukee pinch-hitter Andruw Montesario in the 11th inning.
But the Reds had this one won in the ninth inning when Elly De La Cruz made the biggest error of them all.
The Reds entered the ninth leading 2-1 after some masterful pitching by starter Zack Littell.
Closer Emilio Pagan walked the first two Brewers. Pagan coaxed a pop-up from Brandon Lockridge for the first out. Sal Frelick grounded to second, a potential game-ending double play.
They got the force at second, but De La Cruz, realizing Frelick was speedy, hurried his throw and it was in the dirt and bounced away from first baseman Spencer Steer and Brice Turang scored from second to tie it, 2-2.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“That was a hard one,” Reds manager Tito Francona told reporters after the game. “You could tell Elly tried to amp up because that was the only way he was going to get him. And that made it really tough for Spencer to try to knock it down. That was a really difficult play.”
That’s all the Brewers needed, especially when all six of their runs came gift-wrapped to them by the Reds.
So the Brewers won their franchise record 14th straight game and clinched their 13th straight series win over the Reds. And over the past five seasons they are 52-28 against the Reds.
In Sunday’s series finale, the Brewers have the opportunity to be the first team to sweep the Reds this season. The Reds are MLB’s only team not to be swept this year.
“We haven’t played clean and that was one of the points we talked about before the series because of how fast they are, how aggressive they are and we haven’t done that and has hurt us both nights,” said Francona.
It hurt over and over and over.
Exhibit A: With two outs a runner on first in the second, Brice Turang lined one and right fielder Noelvi Marte misjudged it completely and it whistled over his head for a double.
It enabled Caleb Durbin to score from first for a 1-0 Milwaukee lead.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
After the last 23 Reds made outs in Friday’s 10-8 loss, Milwaukee starter Quinn Priestly, 10-0 over his previous 17 appearances, extended it to 32 straight Reds up-and-down.
TJ Friedl ended it with a leadoff single in the fourth, but Spencer Steer hit into a double play.
The Reds grabbed a 2-1 lead in the sixth on solo home runs bv Ke’Bryan Hayes and Steer and Littell guarded that lead like a Pinkerton.
He went six innings and gave up the one run that shouldn’t have been a run and four hits. But the Reds offense stayed stagnant and in the first eight innings they went out 1-2-3 five times.
The Reds had an opportunity to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth when it was 2-2. But with a runner on second and two outs, Matt McLain, playing after two days off, struck out for the fourth time.
Exhibit B: The Brewers took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th on another error. Left fielder Jake Fraley tried to field a single by William Contreras to hold the ghost runner at third, but the ball slipped off his glove and he fell, injuring himself, as ghost runner Anthony Seigler scored.
After his error permitted the tying run in the ninth, De La Cruz had an opportunity in the bottom of the tenth to avenge his mistake and record his first career walk-off win.
With the score 3-3, the Reds had runners on second and first with two outs, but De La Cruz struck out.
Exhibit C: Then came an 11th inning faux pas. With ghost runner Durbin on second base, Turang dropped a sacrifice bunt up the third base line. Both pitcher Joe La Sorsa and third baseman Hayes converged. Hayes picked it up, but La Sorsa was in Hayes’ way and his throw to first was late.
La Sorsa’s next pitch to Montesario ended up in the left field seats. The Reds answered with two runs in the bottom of the 11th on Santiago Espinal’s sacrifice fly and Noelvi Marte’s home run.
But, fittingly, McLain made the last out. At least it wasn’t his fifth strikeout. It was a deep fly to center field.
So far this season, the Reds have made 11 errors against the Brewers, more than double against any other team.
“That’s what we talked about before the series,” said Francona. “They don’t strike out (six times to the Reds’ 13), they run the bases extremely well. They present a lot of problems, especially if you give them extra opportunities.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
After his near-perfect performance came up empty in the win column, Littell pegged it perfectly.
“I heard about our problems against the Brewers from some of our guys,” he said. “That’s a good team, not to mention where they’re at in the standings (first) and where we’re at (third). It is fun to play in these types of games.”
With the loss, the Reds fell 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the third wild card spot.
“It’s that time of year where things tighten up a bit,” he said. “Everybody is scoreboard watching. Our job is to go out there and play the game. These two nights have been frustrating losses, but we were one play away from winning both these games.
“We gotta be more crisp on defense and the pitching staff has to go out there and attack guys,” he added. “Everybody in here will point to themselves and believe we have to be better. If we want to play October baseball, it requires that type level of play.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Milwaukee at Cincinnati
When: 1:40 p.m.
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM
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