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By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — It was Cinco de Mayo, so it was the Cincinnati Los Rojos against the San Francisco Gigantes on Friday night in Great American Ball Park — it said so on the fronts of their uniforms.

Everybody knew, though, it was the Reds and the Giants. And even though the game’s start was delayed an hour and 50 minutes by rain, the Reds offense was not on delay.

They raised cain with Giants starter Matt Cain in the first inning, scoring three runs in the first inning for the third time in their last four game. And it didn’t stop there and the Reds ended up with 30 baserunners.

That first inning launched the Reds on a late-night giggler, a 13-3 victory over the 11-19 Giants, occupants of last place in the National League West, during which the Reds scored runs in each of the first six innings.

The Reds won their third straight and pushed above .500 at 15-14 with an offensive splurge that featured 16 hits. Jose Peraza, Eugenio Suarez, Scott Schebler and Billy Hamilton each had three hits and Hamilton was on base five straight times, tying his career high and scored four runs. Zack Cozart and Adam Duvall contributed two hits apiece.

What? No home runs? Nope. Not by the Reds.

Bu a string of San Francisco pitchers did litter the bases with 11 walks, most in a game by the Giants since 2011.

DESPITE THE RUN SPLURGE AND the hit deluge the biggest news of the night was the fact that starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo said, for the first time this year, his arm didn’t bark at him and he felt like a major league pitcher again.

“My arm was normal today, for the first time all year,” said Arroyo after holding the Giants to two earned run and five hits over 5 1/3 innings. “I wasn’t really tired and I got in 95 pitches and I could have continued out there. And that hasn’t been the case and I hope we can build on this. I was finally comfortable and my stride length was a little farther.

“I wasn’t throwing any harder, but I definitely felt like I wasn’t inhibited by anything and I could get after it,” Arroyo added. “As long as I can keep my elbow in check — and right now it feels fantastic.”

CAIN CAME INTO THE GAME with a 2-and-0 record and a 2.30 earned run average that immediately took a heavy hit. He walked Billy Hamilton to open the bottom of the first and Hamilton took third on Zack Cozart’s single.

Hamilton scored on Joey Votto’s sacrifice fly, Eugenio Suarerz singled home a run and after Scott Schebler singled Jose Peraza singled home the third run and the Reds merry-go-round was in full swing the rest of the night.

THERE WAS A SIDE ANGLE TO this one and it was Cincinnati starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo against San Francisco third baseman Christian Arroyo.

They are not related, but in an amazing twist, they both attended Hernando High Scool in Brooksville, Fla., 18 years and a generation apart.

“When I was getting drafted, I was thinking, ‘Maybe one day I’ll face Bronson. That would be sick,’ ” Christian told San Francisco Chronicle writer John Shea.

So what happened? In the second inning, Christian Arroyo took ball one from Bronson Arroyo, then drilled the next pitch into the left field seats for a home run.

Tim Simms coached both Arroyos and Christian said, “He texted us both to tell us, ‘Have fun, enjoy the moment and everyone back in Brooksville is watching.’”

The Giants selected Christian in the first round of the 2013 draft, the highest drafted high schooler from Hernando County since Bronson was taken by the Pirates in the third round in 1995.

“It’s pretty awesome, to be honest,” Christian told the Chronicle. “I never figured I’d be here with an opportunity to face him. I talked to Bronson in high school before the draft, and he gave me valuable information about the draft process and professional baseball.”

ARROYO TOOK CARE OF THE other Arroyo on a line drive out on his next time up and pretty much took care of the rest of the Giants during his 5 1/3 innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) five hits, walked one and struck out four. And after losing his first two decisions, the 40-year-old righthander is nobody’s joke. He has won his last three starts.

Of the home run to the other Arroyo, Bronson laughed and said, “I was behind 1-and-0 and tried to throw a fastball down-and-away it leaked back in and up, probably the worst pitch I could have thrown to anybody in that lineup.

“He knocked it out of the park and I guess if I was going to give up a home run to anybody over there it would be to him,” said Bronson. “I’ll take that. I’ll look at the back of his baseball card when I’m not playing any more and I can say, ‘Hey, I gave you one. I gave you one.’”

CANE’S SECOND INNING WAS as bad as the first, maybe worse. He walked the bases loaded and with two outs Eugenio Suarez drilled a 2-and-0 pitch up the middle for a two-run single and a 5-1 Reds advantage.

The assault continued in the third when Jose Peraza singled and stole second while Arroyo was striking out, the fourth stolen base of the game by the Reds. From there Peraza scored from second on Billy Hamilton’s single to left.

The score every inning script continued for the Reds in the fourth when t scored three times and chased Cain to the showers. All three runs came on Jose Pereza’s bases loaded triple, giving him three hits and a career-high four RBI and producing a 9-1 lead.

Cain’s earned run average exploded from 2.30 to 4.70 when the Reds frisked him for nine runs, 10 hits and six walks (a career-high for Cain) in 3 1/3 innings.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — An all-morning rain drenched Great American Ball Park, forcing a 56-minute delay to the start of the Cincinnati Reds-Pittsburgh Pirates game Thursday afternoon.

For the Reds, it was worth the wait and worth dodging a few rain drops while Billy Hamilton ran the bases and Tim Adleman worked off the muddy mound.

For the second straight day the Reds were not overly impressed with a high profile Pittsburgh pitcher.

Ivan Nova walked to the mound Thursday with a 1.50 earned run average and the National League Pitcher of the Month for April trophy in his den.

The Reds scored two in the fourth and two in the fifth and used those runs to score a 4-2 victory over Nova and the Pirates to take three of four in the series.

ON WEDNESDAY JAMESON TAILLON entered the game with a 2-and-0 record and a 2.60 earned run average. The Reds rocked and rolled him for a pair of three-run home runs by Eugenio Suarez and Billy Hamilton en route to a 7-2 victory.

The pitcher of the day Thursday was Cincinnati starter Tim Adleman, who held the Pirates to a pair of runs over six innings and won his first game of the season.

“I’ve said all along that what I want is to go deep into games and keep my team in those games,” said Adleman. “If you had told me before this game that I’d go six and give up two, I’d take it.”

PITTSBURGH TOOK A 1-0 lead in the second on Francio Cervelli’s single and Gift Ngoepe’s double.

Jose Peraza, batting second on this day while Zack Cozart took a rest, led the fourth with a single and took third on Joey Votto’s double. Both scored on Adam Duvall’s hard single left for a 2-1 Reds lead.

“Cozart doesn’t need a day off, but I have to get Almendy Alcantara into a game,” said Reds manager Bryan Price. “So Jose Peraza slides back into second (in the batting order) for a day.”

Alcantara singled his first three time up and stole a base. But the big stolen base came in the fifth inning when Billy Hamilton singled and stole second.

It was the 200th major league stolen base for Hamilton, seventh on the all-time list, 21 behind Vada Pinson, sixth on the list.

After Hamilton’s theft, Joey Votto pulled a two-out double to right to make it 3-1 and Duvall tripled to left field to push the lead to 4-1.

The steal was Hamilton’s 16th in 17 attempts this year and Price said, “I’d hate to see him on another team and have to worry about him. And sometimes it can get lost among other things, like his ability to go first to third on a missile to the left fielder or take an extra base when nobody else on the field can do it.

“The big part of it is that in his first year his success rate wasn’t great,” Price added. “And what I’ve marveled at more than anything is what he has done in ’15, ’16 and ’17 because his success rate has shot up through the roof. It has been a phenomena.”

HAMILTON SAID HE WAS unaware of the 200 figure until a few days ago when he messed up his leg sliding and assistant athletic trainer Tomas Vera scribbled something on a wrap he placed on Hamilton’s leg.

“He wrote ’16’ on it and I asked why and he said, ‘Once you get to 199 steals I’ll let you know,’” said Hamilton. “The other day I got to 199 and he said ‘You have one more to go,’ and I said, ‘Oh, OK, now I know what you’re talking about.’”

ADLEMAN GAVE UP A RUN in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Josh Bell and Cervelli, cutting the margin to 4-2.

He left after six solid innings — two runs, six hits, one walk, five strikeouts. Michael Lorenzen replaced Adleman and contributed two perfect innings with a strikeout.

Raisel Iglesias inherited the ninth inning and gave up a leadoff single to Josh Bell. He struck out Franciso Cervelli, got a force play at second on pinch-hitter Jose Osuna and ended it by striking out pinch-hitter Jose Osuna for his fifth save.

OF ADLEMAN PRICE SAID, “He was terrific. He was great. Threw strikes. Went right after them. He didn’t get himself in trouble by nit-picking and going deep into counts. Six innings, under 90 pitches (88) was excellent.”

Adleman worked on a slider this spring to complement his fastball, change-up and curve, but it didn’t go well and he returned to his three-pitch repertoire.

“In the spring, I wasn’t right, I wasn’t myself,” he said. “Given what I did last year with fastball, changeup, curveball, I felt like staying with that mix for now would be good enough. So far it has helped me get back on track.”

PRICE WANTED TO EMPHASIZE what Alcantara did — three for three with a stolen base.

“That was really a nice thing,” said Price. “More than anything is that the bench players, other than Scooter Gennett, don’t get to play a whole lot. It’s hard to get them regular time because we have a set lineup. For him to go in and pick up a game like that, it is just a boost for him.”

REDS ALL-TIME STOLEN BASES LEADERS:

Joe Morgan, 406.
Barry Larkin, 379.
Dave Concepcion, 320.
Bob Bescher, 320.
Eric Davis, 270.
Vada Pinson, 221.
BILLY HAMILTON, 200.
Edd Roush, 199.
Brandon Phillips, 194.

By HAL McCOY

While the Pittsburgh Pirates littered the bases with stranded runners Wednesday night in Great American Ball Park, the Cincinnati Reds cleaned them off.

In the first four innings, the Pirates stranded eight runners and none scored. In the same time frame, the Reds clubbed a pair of three-run home runs to sweep the bases clean.

IT ALL ADDED UP TO a 7-2 Reds victory and the first major league win for rookie Rookie Davis.

Davis pitched out of problems in the second, third and fourth innings, leaving three on in the second, two on in the third and three on in the fourth. The Pirates went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

On the other side, Eugenio Suarez drilled a three-run home run in the first and Billy Hamilton crushed a three-run home run in the fourth to give Davis a 6-0 lead.

And the uprising didn’t come against any slouch. Pittsburgh starter Jameson Taillon came in with a 2-0 record and a 2.08 earned run average. He had given up only one earned run in 19 1/3 innings on the road.

THE REDS TOOK CARE of that.

Davis came in with a 0-and-1 record and an 11.17 earned run average. While he bent, he never broke and pitched five scoreless innings, giving up four hit and three walks.

—The Pirates had the bases loaded with one out in the second, but Davis struck out Gift Ngoepe and induced a ground ball from Taillon.

—The Pirates had two on with two outs in the third before Davis coaxed a pop-up from Josh Bell.

—The Pirates had the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth but John Jaso struck out.

“It was the way I was brought up. Never give up,” Davis told Fox Sports Ohio after the game. “I just had to compete and find a way to get through it.”

ZACK COZART SINGLED WITH one out in the first and Joey Votto walked. After Adam Duvall flied out, Suarez lined a home run into the left field seats for a 3-0 lead.

Jose Peraza singled to open the fourth and Devin Mesoraco was hit by a pitch. Davis bunted the runners to third and second, but the sacrifice bunt was not needed.

Hamilton turned on the first pitch and crushed it into the Reds bullpen in right field to make it 6-0. It was Hamilton’s first home run in 319 at bats, dating back to June 29 of last season against Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs.

THEN CAME ANOTHER NOTEWORTHY home run. Mesoraco, who started only 17 games in 2015 and 2016, homered in the sixth. It was his first home run since September 23, 2014. It was 953 days between home runs and as he said after the game, “A hell of a long time. But I’ll hit a lot more home runs and I was happy to see Davis get off the schneid.”

After Davis left, Cody Reed took over and pitched a shaky two innings, walking four and giving up two hits, including a two-run home run to Andrew McCutchen.

All nine runs in this game, seven by the Reds and two by the Pirates, came via home runs.

Drew Storen and Raisel Iglesias finished it off with Storen pitching a 1-2-3 eighth and Iglesias pitching a 1-2-3 ninth.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI – It was sort of like the movie network: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.”

That must have been how the Pittsburgh Pirates felt early in a game Tuesday night in Great American Ball Park.

They had lost four straight games to the Reds this season and they were down three runs before Pittsburgh pitcher Tyler Glasnow recorded an out. If it were a boxing match, Glasnot would have been out on his feet. But he never went down.

And the Pirates snapped in the fourth inning, led by Cincinnati slayer and Cincinnati native Josh Harrison. The Pirates scored six runs off Reds starter Scott Feldman, including a three-run home run by Harrison and it launched them toward a 12-3 Pirates’ revenge.

HARRISON HOMERED HIS LAST two at bats Monday night when the Reds won, 4-3, in 10 innings. He took two called strike threes his first two time up Tuesday — and wasn’t happy about either one.

The Pirates had scored three times in the fourth, two on a single by opposing pitcher Tyler Glasnow to take a 4-3 lead when Harrison clubbed his three-run blast. And the track meet was on.

“We’re going to send everybody to Harrison’s house to sleep tonight,” said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle.

IT LOOKED AS IF THE REDS might rival the 23 runs the Washington Nationals scored over the weekend against the New York Mets in the bottom of the first.

Glasnow walked Billy Hamilton, who stole second and third. Glasnow walked Zack Cozart on a full count. And Glasnow gave up a three-run home run to Joey Votto and it was 3-0 with nobody out in the first.

He then walked Adam Duvall before he got an out and Jose Peraza singled with two outs, putting runners on first and third. But Devin Mesoraco flied to center and the Reds were finished scoring in the first inning and, in fact, finished for the night.

“Tyler was in a hard spot,” said Hurdle. “It was fight or flight. And he fought. Ray Searage (pitching coach) was able to go out and have a nice talk with im and he was able to regroup.”

ROBERT STEPHENSON REPLACED Feldman and had two outs with nobody on in the seventh inning. But John Jaso doubled, Jose Osuna walked and Elias Diaz dribbled his first major-league hit behind the mound to load the bases.

Gift Ngoepe of Randburg, South Africa, the first man from the African continent to play Major League baseball, lined a hard single to left for two runs and a 9-3 Pirates lead.

Blake Wood replaced Stephenson and Wood walked opposing pitcher Glasnow on four pitches with the bases loaded, giving Glasnow a 10-3 lead and three RBI for the game. Wood then threw a wild pitch to permit another run and an 11-3 score and catcher Stuart Turner was charged with a passed ball that permitted another run and a 12-3 deficit.

It was ugliest at its mightiest for Reds pitchers.

MEANWHILE, AFTER GIVING UP three runs, two hits and three walks in the first inning, Glasnow gave up no runs, two hits and one walk over the next five innings en route to the first win of his major league career.

“He walked three in the first inning and got a fastball middle up to Votto and he hit it where he can hit it,” said Hurdle. “So he is three hitters into the game and he is down 3-0 and they’ve taken one swing. From there, his command of the fastball came back and with the mix of his changeup and his curve he got on a roll and he started making pitches, throwing strikes with everything.”

Glasnow has an early history of digging troublesome holes for himself in the first inning, but with the help from Searage he dug is way out of this one.

“That’s kind of been a theme for all my starts this year,” said Glasnow. “I don’t start out well so I guess I’ve had a lot of practice with it.”

And that’s where Searage comes in and Glasnow said, “The reason I did well after the first inning was Ray. I’ve been working with him and we have been working on some stuff. But in that first inning I went straight back to what I was doing before.”

So Searage came to the mound for some steerage for Glasnow.

“It has been two years of doing things that were uncomfortable, so Ray came up to me and said, ‘Remember what we did. Let’s fix it in the second inning.’ I made sure to focus on that, so go thank Ray. He has helped me a ton.”

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — Billy Hamilton swung hard and watched his soft line drive heading toward Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell and Hamilton said to himself, “Is it high enough? Is it high enough?”

It was. Barely. Bell leaped and nearly nabbed the baseball, but it escaped his grasp and landed in the grass behind him.

Arismendy Alcantara sprinted home from second base and the Cincinnati Reds had a 10th-inning walk-off victory over the Pirates, 4-3, Monday night in Great American Ball Park, with nearly nobody there to witness it.

THE WAY THINGS HAVE GONE for Hamilton, it would not have shocked him had Bell snagged the ball. Hamilton entered the game hitting .213 and hadn’t had a two-hit game in nearly three weeks.

And he already had his one hit for the day, a single in the first inning, after which he stole second and third, but didn’t score.

But he converted this time and said, “I had some good at bats during the game and my confidence was up. I didn’t want to strike out in that situation (with two outs). I didn’t give up and battled even when I got to two strikes.”

REDS STARTING PITCHER AMIR Garrett didn’t get the win despite giving up only two hits over his seven innings. Unfortunately for him, both hits were home runs — Andrew McCutchen and Cincinnati native Josh Harrison.

But Garrett could have annexed the win after Adam Duvall crashed a three-run home run in the sixth, the first runs of the game against Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole.

That gave the Reds a 3-2 lead, but Drew Storen gave up another home run to Josh Harrison, a long blast in the eighth that tied it, 3-3, wiping away Garrett’s victory.

The Pirates ended up with only three hits, all three home runs.

THE LAST TIME GARRETT WAS on the pitching mound, the Milwaukee Brewers not only knocked him off his high horse, they trampled him with 10 runs in 3 1/3 innings.

That didn’t happen Monday night on the GABP mound. Garrett sat tall in the saddle against the Pirates, just the two hits in seven innings.

“It was a good bounceback game for me,” said Garrett, now 3-and-2. “I’m very happy with the outcome. The game against the Brewers? Everything was up for some reason. But it wasn’t something I could fix right away, not in that game at the moment.

“But I had a good bullpen and in the game tonight everything was down and I was able to work off that,” he said. The two errant pitches? McCutchen hit a hanging slider and Harrison hit a fastball away, “And he went with it and put a great swing on it,” said Garrett.

With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Tucker Barnhart worked a full-count walk against Pittsburgh relief pitcher Daniel Hudson.

Alcantara ran for Barnhart and Hudson twice nearly threw the ball away trying to pick him off. On his third try he did throw it away and Alcantara scooted to second, making it easy for him to score on Hamilton’s hit.

“The catalyst again, two days in a row, was Tucker Barnhart grinding out a walk to set the stage,” said manager Bryan Price. “That walk ended up leading to the winning run.”

Said Hamilton of Alcantara (pinch-running for Barnhart) drawing the pickoff error to get in scoring position, “For me, I don’t hit too many balls deep so it would be tough for me to drive him in from first base. When he got to second it makes it easier for a hitter like me.”

Of course, without Duvall’s big blast in the eighth after Hamilton reach on an error and Joey Votto walked on a full count, the Reds would not
have been in position to steal this one away from the Pirates, the Reds fourth straight win over Pittsburgh this season.

“Duvall is terrific and it is always sitting there pending with him,” said Price. “Nobody is going to be great every day, but the threat he has of an extra base hit, a three-run homer or a solo shot to tie it late, he never seems to be in a situation he can’t handle.”

And it was a tough go, but Garrett kept a handle on it until Duvall and Hamilton could clinch it.

By HAL McCOY

For five innings Sunday afternoon in Busch Stadium, it looked as if it was same ol’ and same ol’ and some ol’ for the Cincinnati Reds against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Put ‘em on base and leave ‘em there.

They left two runners on base in the first, two runners on base in the second and two runners on third against former teammate Mike Leake.

And they trailed, 4-0, after Matt Carpenter’s three-run double in the fifth inning.

FOR ONCE, THOUGH, it was the other team’s bullpen suffering a meltdown and the Reds came from behind to score a 5-4 victory.

With the win, the Reds avoided a road sweep. They were 1-and-4 on trip after losing three straight in Milwaukee and the first game in St. Louis. They were rained out Saturday.

LEAKE, WHO ENTERED THE game 3-and-1 with a 1.32 earned run average, gave up a run in the sixth on a double by Adam Duvall and a single by Scott Schebler.

Duvall, 2 for 17 during the first four games of the trip, finished the day with four hits, including three doubles.

Leake left the game after six innings, believing he finally owned a win over the Reds. He is 0-and-3 in five starts against the Reds while pitching for the Cardinals. The Cardinals have now lost all six games Leake has started against the Reds.

REDS STARTER BRONSON ARROYO was solid for four innings, holding the Cardinals to one run. But things got away from him in the sixth.

Leake started it with a single and Dexter Fowler singled. Aledmys Diaz walked to fill the bases and Carpenter unloaded them with a three-run double over right fielder Schebler’s head.

With Leake out of the game in the seventh, the Reds went to work against Matt Bowman and they did most of their damage with two outs.

Billy Hamilton led with a single before Zack Cozart struck out, one of three times he struck out Sunday. Joey Votto grounded out, putting a runner on second with two outs.

Duvall doubled to right to cut the margin to 4-2. Eugenio Suarez singled to right to make it 4-3 and Suarez went all the way to third on a Cardinals throwing error.

BRENT CECIL REPLACED BOWMAN and Schebler doubled to right to tie it, 4-4.

Trevor Rosenthal began the eighth for the Cardinals by walked Tucker Barnhart on four pitches. Pinch-hitter Devin Mesoraco singled and Rosenthal walked Billy Hamilton on four pitches.

That loaded the bases with no outs but the Reds scored only one run — just enough.

Cozart struck out. That brought up Votto, 0 for 5 with three strikeouts against Rosenthal. But Votto lined a 2-and-2 pitch into center field for a run and a 5-4 lead.

With the bases still full and a chance for the Reds to break it open Duvall struck out and Suarez popped out.

MANAGER BRYAN PRICE BROUGHT in Raisel Iglesias for a two-inning save and he wobbled but survived.

He walked Stephen Piscotty to open the eighth. Yadier Molina struck out and Piscotty was caught in a rundown. Iglesias then struck out Randal Grichuk.

The Cardinals put their first runner on base in the ninth, too, and he reached third base. Kolten Wong singled, took second on pinch-hitter Greg Garcia’s grounder, took third on Dexter Fowler’s grounder but stood on third as the game ended on Aledmys Diaz’s first-pitch ground ball to third.

In addition to the two scoreless innings for Iglesias, the Reds received scoreless innings from Michael Lorenzen and Wandy Peralta, who got the win.

And in addition to Duvall’s four hits, Schebler had three hits and drove in two, Votto had two hits and Tucker Barnhart had two hits.

The Reds have won three of their last 12, all three victories started by Arroyo. The other starters are 0-and-9.

By HAL McCOY

Inexcusable. Unfathomable. Incomprehensible. The ultimate brain cramp.

What happened to Eugenio Suarez Friday night in Busch Stadium was something that shouldn’t happen to a college player or a high school player, let alone a major league player.

But the Cincinnati Reds third baseman was caught daydreaming on the basepath and it turned into a nightmare.

IT WAS A KEY SITUATION for the Reds in a game they eventually lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-5.

It was the sixth inning and the Reds trailed only by 3-1 when Devin Mesoraco drew a full count walk with two outs.

That filled the bases, temporarily. Suarez trotted from second to third on the walk. Then inexplicably he rounded third base and took two steps toward home.

Then he turned his back on home plate and stared toward left field. St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina, still holding the ball after the walk, saw Suarez in a fog and fired the ball to third baseman Jedd Gyorko. He applied the tag on Suarez. Instead of bases loaded with two outs, the inning was over.

THEN IN THE BOTTOM OF the sixth the Cardinals scored three runs off starter Tim Adleman to seemingly put the game away.

And it became even bigger when the Reds scored four runs in the eighth inning to come from 7-1 behind to 7-5.

So the Reds lost for the ninth time in their last 10 games.

THE REDS TOOK A 1-0 lead when Scott Schebler hit his third home run in two days, a long blast in the second inning off St. Louis starter Lance Lynn.

The Cardinals scored three times in the third in an inning that began with third baseman Suarez drawing a throwing error on a ball that should have been handled by first baseman Joey Votto.

Kolten Wong quickly doubled for a run and Dexter Fowler lined a two-run home run to make it 3-1.

Gyorko homered with one out in the sixth, then came a walk and a single by Molina, ending Adleman’s night.

BLAKE WOOD TOOK OVER and Randal Grichuk singled for a run. After another walk pinch-hitter Matt Adams hit a deep, bases-loaded sacrifice fly to right for a 6-1 lead.

REDS MANAGER BRYAN Price made a slight adjustment in the lineup. Jose Peraza was given the day off and Zack Cozart was moved from seventh in the batting order to second.

It didn’t work.

Leadoff hitter Billy Hamilton had a hit, but he also struck out twice and has whiffed eight times in his last 19 at bats.

After the Clydesdales were already out of the barn, the Reds scored their four runs in the eighth, started with a single by Cozart and Joey Votto’s eighth home run.

With runners in scoring position, it is a sad story recently. In their last four games, all losses, they are 5 for 37 and 1 for 22 with runners in scoring position.

They were 0 for 20 until Scooter Gennett’s two-run double in the eighth that drew the Reds to within 7-5.

Hamilton came to bat in the eighth with two on and two outs and popped up the first pitch thrown by St. Louis closer Seung Hwan Oh.

Oh then quickly and silently put down the heart of the Reds order in the ninth — ground ball by Cozart, called strike three on Votto, which he disputed, and pop out by Adam (0 for 5) Duvall.

Catcher Devin Mesoraco, almost a year to the day since he last played a game for the Reds, returned to the lineup Friday.

He struck out with two on base in his first at bat, then drew the walk on which Suarez was picked off third base, and singled.

“Take a shower, wash off the day.” — Charlotte Eriksson.

By HAL McCOY

Rookie Davis and the Cincinnati Reds wish it were only that easy — take a shower, wash off the day.

They take a shower every game after playing the Milwaukee Brewers only to have the Brewers throw dirt all over them the next day.

For the third straight day the Reds left Miller Park with dirt all over them, this time a 9-4 defeat to the Brewers.

That completed a three-game sweep by the Brewers during which they scored 29 runs while beating the Reds for the sixth time in seven games this year.

And the Reds left Milwaukee, headed for St. Louis, after losing seven of their last eight games overall.

WHEN A TEAM IS MIRED, its feet in clay, the last thing it wants is to have to send a rookie to the mound, a rookie making his second major league start and coming off an injury.

That, though, is what the Reds had to do Wednesday afternoon in Miller Park and it was sending Rookie Davis to the slaughter.

Seven of the first Brewers in the first inning had base hits and Milwaukee scored five times. On a positive and sarcastic note — at least he didn’t walk anybody.

And in the middle of he first inning, Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker uttered, “The Brewers are really taking the Reds to task.” Really?

JOEY VOTTO GAVETHE REDS a 1-0 lead in the top of the first against Wily Peralta with his seventh home run.

Then came the bottom of the first and it went like this:

Jonathan Villar bunted for a hit. Eric Thames singled. Ryan Braun doubled for two runs (2-1). Travis Shaw singled. Hernan Perez flied to the warning track, a sacrifice fly (3-1). Shaw stole third standing up. Jeff Bandy singled (4-1). Nick Franklin singled. Orlando Arcia doubled for a run (5-1).

For the mathematically challenged, that’s eight batters, five runs, seven hits, one out.

Because the bullpen is battered and gutted, manager Bryan Price had to to leave Davis in to take a whipping, and a whipping he took.

He gave up another run in the second and when he gave up a two-run home run to No. 8 hitter Orlando Arcia and a two-out single to Villar in the third, Price finally pulled the plug on Davis.

His line was a besmirched 2 2/3 innings, eight runs, 11 hits, one walk, two strikeouts.

Rookie Amir Garrett gave up 10 runs in 3 1/3 innings Monday and the Brewers racked up 18 runs over six innings against the two rookies.

INCLUDING VOTTO’S FIRST-INNING home run, the Reds hit four home runs, all with the bases empty — two by Scott Schebler and one by Adam Duvall, accounting for all four Cincinnati Reds runs. But it was way too little and way too late.

They had opportunities. They had two on with two outs in the third, but Votto grounded out.

They had runners on second and third with two outs in the fourth, but Billy Hamilton struck out.

They had two on with one out in the fifth, but Eugenio Suarez grounded into a double play.

They had two on with no outs in the sixth, but Scooter Gennett, Hamilton and Jose Peraza all popped up.

They were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

After the Brewers scored eight runs against Davis, the Reds bullpen shut the Brewers down on one run and three hits over the final 5 1/3 innings but, like the home runs, it was way too little and way too late.

On a positive note, for the first time this year Brewers first baseman Eric Thames didn’t hit a home run against the Reds.

By HAL McCOY

A major league manager doesn’t like to dial 911 this early in the season, but Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price should at least have his fingers poised above the keys.

What his batting order is doing right now isn’t working, especially the top two spots of Billy Hamilton and Jose Peraza.

Isn’t a shuffle due?

The Reds lost for the fifth time in six games Tuesday night in Milwaukee, a 9-1 annihilation, the fifth time in six games they’ve been beaten down by the Brewers.

And for the first time this season the Reds are below .500 at 10-and-11.

THE IGNITION SWITCH ISN’T working. Billy Hamilton struck out his first four times and went 0 for 5 Tuesday night and he is hitting .213. Although Peraza had two hits, one was a squibber-dribbler into short right field and the other was an infield hit. He is hitting .226.

Meanwhile, Zack Cozart, batting seventh, continues to mangle every pitch he sees and is hitting .386 with four triples.

There were times in the past that Price put Cozart in the leadoff spot and dropped Hamilton to eighth. Is it time again?

AND THE TEAM AS A whole is back into that nasty habit of leaving runners in scoring position and Tuesday was one of the season’s worst.

—SECOND INNING: They had runners on first and third with two outs and Tucker Barnhart flied to center.

—THIRD INNING: Once again the Reds had runners on first and third with two outs and Adam Duvall flied to center.

—FOURTH INNING: They had runners on second and third with one out but Barnhart was called out on strikes and pitcher Scott Feldman flied to left.

—SIXTH INNING: They had runners on first and second with one out before Barnhart hit into a double play, giving him stranded runners in three at bats.

For once Brewers first baseman Eric Thames did not do major destruction against the Reds. And it wasn’t Ryan Braun.

The Brewers have another Reds tormentor in their lineup. His name is Perez and it isn’t Rosie Perez, who took a short cut in the New York Marathon. It is Hernan Perez and he takes no short cuts against the Reds.

In the second inning Reds pitcher Scott Feldman issued a two-out walk to Manny Pina and Perez pushed a run-scoring triple to the right field corner.

Feldman had two outs in the fourth when he gave up another run-scoring triple to Perez, this time to right center for a 2-0 Brewers lead.

After Perez’s second triple, Feldman intentionally walked Keon Broxton to get to pitcher Zach Davies. Incredibly, he also walked Davies, who was hitting .075, to load the bases and Jonathan Villar rolled a two-run single under Feldman’s glove and into center field to make it 4-0.

ROBERT STEPHENSON REPLACED Feldman in the sixth and Perez greeted him with a home run to make it 5-0.

Against the rest of the league, Perez is 4 for 31 with one RBI. After the sixth inning, Perez is 8 for 13 with 10 RBI in the four games he has played against the Reds.

He has one extra base hit against the Reds of the league and seven against the Reds.

The Perez home run was the beginning of a nightmare for Stephenson, who can’t seem to find his way.

After Perez homered, Keon Broxton hit the top of the center field wall for a double. Right fielder Scott Schebler dropped a routine fly ball. Villar dropped a two-run double down the right field line.

And, oh yes, Eric Thames got into the act. He drilled a home run to right field, his 11th of the year, eight against the Reds and it was 9-0 —five straight hitters reaching base against Stephenson.

He finally got an out before Travis Shaw singled, his third hit of the night. After getting a second out he issued a walk and his night was done — nine batters, five runs, six hits (two homers, two doubles, a single) and a walk).

Barrett Astin, called up Tuesday from Class AAA Louisville, replaced Stephenson and wisely walked Perez on four pitches to load the bases. Then he got the final out and the Reds traipsed off the field down, 9-0, and Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell mercifully removed Perez and Thames from the game.

Adam Duvall prevented the Reds from suffering the ignominy of a shutout by hitting his sixth home run with one out in the eighth inning.