The 9th inning of the game was embarrassing. “A whole new level of ugly,” as said by Reds broadcaster John Sadak during the 10-run Brewers inning. Cincinnati never really threatened in the game, but Milwaukee made sure of that as they pounded the Reds pitchers during the final inning to sweep the home team in a day/night doubleheader.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers (79-56) |
14 | 15 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (64-72) | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Hall (1-1) L: Lowder (0-1) |
|||
| Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Rhett Lowder took the mound in the top of the 1st inning to make his big league debut. Nerves may have been getting to him early as he walked the first two batters of the game. He came back with a grounder to get a force out and then Jake Bauers, the Brewers cleanup hitter, inexplicably tried to bunt and popped up back to Lowder for the second out of the inning. Five pitches later the Reds rookie escaped the jam by getting a shallow fly ball to left field.
Lowder would work around a baserunner in each of the next two innings to keep the game scoreless. In the 4th inning, though, thigns caught up with him. He walked his 4th batter of the day and then saw Garrett Mitchell steal the third base against him on the night to get into scoring position. That stolen base played a big factor two pitches later when Sal Frelick hit a grounder the other way that went off the glove of a diving Noelvi Marte that allowed Mitchell to score on a play at the plate just ahead of the throw from Elly De La Cruz who picked up the ball in the outfield grass.
Lowder would strike out Eric Haase to end the inning, and it would turn out to be the last batter he faced. The 1st round pick from 2023 finished with just that one run over his 4.0 innings and he had six strikeouts along with his four walks.
Sam Moll took over for the Reds in the 5th and worked around two walks to keep the score 1-0. Carson Spiers then entered the game for the top of the 6th and the first pitch he threw landed in the first row of the seats in left-center off of the bat of Garrett Mitchell that made it 2-0. Spiers returned for the 7th and saw the Brewers tack on two more runs when Rhys Hoskins hit a 2-run homer into the left field seats to extend their lead to 4-0.
Milwaukee wasn’t quite finished for the day. They would add to their lead in the top of the 9th inning. Yosver Zulueta gave up four runs before Luke Maile got called on to pitch and he proceeded to give up six runs of his own as the Brewers scored 10 runs to take a 14-0 lead. The Reds didn’t score in the bottom of the inning and lost.
Key Moment of the Game
While the Brewers went on to score 14 runs, at the time the 2-run homer in the 7th by Rhys Hoskins that made it 4-0 seemed to put the game away.
Notes Worth Noting
Santiago Espinal fouled a ball off of his leg in the 5th inning. He later singled, but hobbled down the line. He was able to talk his way into staying in the game, but when the top of the 7th began he was replaced in the field.
Elly De La Cruz and Ty France each had two hits on the night.
The loss drops the Reds to 4-11 in their last 15 games.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds
Saturday August 31st, 7:15pm ET
Frankie Montas (6-9, 4.64 ERA) vs TBA
