By Hal McCoy
The sun set in the west, the oceans didn’t dry up, dogs still hate cats and the Milwaukee Brewers found a way to beat the Cincinnati Reds.
Nothing ever changes, especially with the Brewers outdoing the Reds.
How did this one happen, this 5-3 loss at American Family Field?
Simply stated, this one was determined by Milwaukee’s number nine hitter, a .197 hitter, a hitter who was 0 for 3 with a strikeout, a hitter with one home run all season.
That was Milwaukee third baseman Joey Ortiz. He broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning with a shocking two-run home run over the center field wall off Tejay Antone.
What led up to that was equally devastating to the Reds.
Starter Nick Lodolo shut the Brewers down on no runs and one hit over five innings. But he was unable to go deeper because he walked four and went to a bag full of three-ball situations that drove his pitch count to 96 pitches.
But he turned over a 3-0 lead.
The first two Reds struck out against Milwaukee starter Robert Gasser (1-3, 4.54 earned run average), but Spencer Steer singled, JJ Bleday walked and Dane Myers doubled for a 1-0 lead.
The Reds made ite 3-0 in the fifth when Edwin Arroyo singled and Elly De La Cruz crunched a 412-foot home run over the Milwaukee bullpen in left field.
Reds manager Tito Francona then had the same dilemma he has had all year, a beat-up, overused bullpen.
He brought in Chase Petty for the sixth inning. He retired the first batter, but the next four reached base and the Brewers scored twice, cutting the Reds’ lead to 3-2.
Andrew Vaughn ripped the first pitch of his at bat off third baseman Sal Stewart’s glove for a double. Pinch-hitter Christian Yelich walked.
Pinch-hitter Jake Bauers lobbed a run-scoring single to left and Sal Frelick walked.
Petty threw a wild pitch that scored Yelich and it was 3-2.
Despite Petty’s sloppy and slippery inning, Francona sent him back out for the seventh and with one out he gave up the game-tying home run to Brice Turang over the center field wall.
Of his pitchers’ performances, Francona said, “We wanted to get Petty through Vaughn (in the sixth) but it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to. If we could get him, I thought we had a chance.”
Vaughn’s double ignited the two-run inning.
On Lodolo’s night, Francona said, “It was almost 50-50 balls and strikes (52 strikes, 44 balls) and the same with Petty. That’s a hard way to be successful.
“But give Lodolo credit,” he added. “He battled his (butt) off. He did keep ‘em off the board and they only had one hit. But that’s a lot of pitches and a lot of work for five innings.”
Sam Moll started the eighth and gave up a one-out single to Sal Frelick. David Hamilton bunted him to second for the second out.
Francona elected to bring in Tejay Antone to face the right-handed Ortiz. He threw two sweepers to a 1-and-1 count. He threw a third straight sweeper and Ortiz swept it 412 feet over the center field wall.
“He threw three (sweepers) in a row,” said Francona. “And I don’t think he got it where he wanted it to. He wanted to get it off the plate a little bit and he didn’t.”
The Reds put runners on base in seven of the first eight innings, but could only score the three runs and Brewers 6-foot-8 closer Trevor Megill went 1-2-3 in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts, including De La Cruz to end the game.
Left-hander Aaron Ashby pitched a scoreless one-hit eighth and was credited with the win. He is 11-1, the most wins for a pitcher in baseball and he pitches in relief.
And there was a disastrous play for the Reds in the fourth inning. Vaughn crushed a long drive to center field. Dane Myers fled full-sprint after the ball and backhanded it over his head.
But then he crashed into the wall, left shoulder first, and crumpled to the ground. He was carried off the field on a golf cart.
X-rays were negative but Myers was transported to a Milwaukee hospital for evaluation
“We sent him to the hospital because he was in so much pain and so uncomfortable,” said Francona. “The kid was really hurtin’ and it wasn’t going away.
“That was an amazing catch,” Francona added. “He is fearless going to the wall, probably like nobody I’ve ever seen. And I can’t believe he held on to the ball. He paid a pretty big price for it.”
And the Reds continue to pay a losing price against the Brewers. They’ve lost four straight to them this year and have lost 94 of the last 149 games to Milwaukee.