By HAL McCOY
With the recent performances by the starting pitchers, the Cincinnati Reds-Milwaukee Brewers baseball game Monday night figured to be a slugging symphony.
Au contraire.
For six innings, Cincinnati’s Homer Bailey and Milwaukee’s Chase Anderson put on an excellent pitching duel in Miller Park.
Both Bailey and Anderson left after six innings, with the Brewers leading by one run. But the Brewers added two runs off Jared Hughes in the eighth inning and rolled to a 5-2 victory.
Bailey entered the game with a 1-and-10 record and the Reds were 1-and-15 in his 16 starts. He pitched four scoreless innings before giving up a solo home run in the fifth to Christian Yelich and a two-run home run in the sixth to Travis Shaw after Jesus Aguilar singled on a 0-and-2 pitch.
The Brewers had lost Anderson’s last three starts and he led the National League in home runs given up with 24. True to form, he gave up solo home runs in the second inning to Eugenio Suarez and Phillip Ervin.
That, though, was the entirety of Cincinnati’s offense for eight innings. Two base runners. Two home runs
After Ervin’s home run, Anderson retired the next 14 in a row — two runs, two hits, no walks, six strikeouts. Strangely, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell took him out.
No matter. Josh Hader came on to retire six straight and the Reds have gone 20 up and 20 down.
It was just 3-2 in the eighth but the Brewers scored two off Jared Hughes on a walk, a triple by pinch-hitter Keon Broxton and a sacrifice fly by Manny Pina to make it 5-2.
The Reds broke their hitless spell in the ninth against closer Jeremy Jeffress when pinch-hitter Mason Williams singled to open the inning.
Billy Hamilton struck out, but Jose Peraza walked to bring the potential tying run to home plate. But Scooter Gennett grounded into a game-ending double play.
Bailey was given a 2-0 lead with the home runs by Suarez and Ervin in the second. Suarez’s home run, his 28h, traveled 436 feet and gave him a league-leading 92 RBI.
But Yelich’s fifth inning home run and the two-run blast by Shaw, son of former Reds closer Jeff Shaw, was the difference.
Bailey is now 1-and-11 and the Reds are 1-and-16 in his starts. For his six innings Bailey gave up three runs, eight hits, walked one, hit one and struck out five. Anderson is 8-and-7 with three of those victories coming against the Reds.