The Cincinnati Reds fell to the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 on Wednesday night at Great American Ballpark. With the loss, the Reds fell to 37-42 and still sit in last place in the NL Central, 12 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. The loss to the Brewers marks the third straight loss for Cincinnati and means they were swept at home for the first time this season and for the first time since 2024.

Reds pitcher Rhett Lowder was given the nod to start on the bump on Wednesday night, and was able to get in a groove early, striking out two batters in the first inning, and one in the second. 

Lowder Struggled in Third Inning

The wheels fell off for Lowder and Cincinnati in the top half of the third inning, as Jackson Chourio singled to left and William Contreras slammed a two-run home run to right-center. Lowder wasn’t able to shake off the home run and allowed another home run in the next at-bat to Jake Bauers as the Reds fell behind 3-0 in the early goings. Lowder finished the game with 5.2 innings of work, allowing eight hits, three earned runs, and six strikeouts. 

The Reds’ offense was sluggish and woke up too late in the series finale against the Brewers. Cincinnati had a mix of strikeouts, groundouts, and pop flies in the first five innings at Great American Ballpark until the home half of the sixth inning. Brewers pitcher Shane Drohan was effective in his outing, allowing five hits and 0 earned runs in 4.1 innings of work while striking out five Reds batters. 

Reds Were Able to Figure out Brewers Bullpen

Brewers pitcher Chad Patrick came into the game in relief and Cincinnati was able to figure him out early, as Noelvi Martin and Tyler Stephenson worked back-to-back walks. Blake Dunn stepped up to the plate and injected some life into Great American Ballpark as he connected on a slurve to right field for a double that scored Marte and got Cincinnati on the board. 

With the score 3-1, Reds pitcher Sam Moll came into the game in relief and ran into trouble, allowing a triple, two walks, and a double in four straight at-bats, the latter of which scored three runners to make it a 6-1 ballgame in favor of the Brewers. 

Reds Offense Finally Woke up in Eighth Inning

The Reds’ offense officially arrived in the home half of the seventh, as they chipped away at the Brewers’ five-run lead. Sal Stewart doubled on a sweeper to left field and scored when Eugenio Suarez connected for a double on a fastball down the middle two at-bats later. The bottom of the eighth inning proved more fruitful as Elly De La Cruz worked a walk and Spencer Steer homered 400 feet to dead center to bring the Reds within one.

The Reds had a golden opportunity to tie or win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Dane Myers grounded into a double play with the bases loaded with one out.

Cincinnati is off on Thursday before heading to Pittsburgh for a weekend series against the Pirates.

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