MILWAUKEE – In a battle between the back end of the bullpens, the Cincinnati Reds outpitched the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.
Yes, seriously.
How about this: The Reds earned a 2-1 victory in 10 innings against the first-place Brewers and they produced only two hits. They scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning without a hit, via the automatic runner at second base, two hit batters, a walk and a sacrifice fly.
The Reds, who improved to 8-2 in extra innings, opened their nine-game road trip with a series win in Milwaukee. They’ve won seven consecutive road games, their longest road winning streak since the 2012 season.
Luis Castillo pitched seven scoreless innings before relievers Brad Brach, Lucas Sims, Heath Hembree and Amir Garrett combined to give up one hit across three frames. The bullpen, which is without Tejay Antone, permitted two baserunners against the 11 batters it faced.
The Reds have won five games in a row and 12 of their last 15 games, including Tuesday's thriller when they had to face star Brewers relievers Devin Williams and Josh Hader.
Milwaukee was down to its final out – and final strike – when Daniel Robertson hit an RBI single to right field off Heath Hembree, scoring its runner from second base. After Hembree issued a walk on his 31st pitch of the inning, Garrett recorded one out to earn his third save of the season.
Castillo, facing the Brewers for the third time in his last four starts, certainly looks more and more like his usual self. He pitched seven scoreless innings, permitting three hits and three walks. He struck out seven, including four batters on called third strikes in his final two innings.
The most encouraging sign is that he overpowered hitters in critical at-bats. Jackie Bradley Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Castillo fell into a 2-0 count against Brewers leadoff hitter Luis Urías before striking him out with three straight fastballs.
Bradley stole third base with two outs, taking advantage of the Reds’ alignment in a defensive shift, and Castillo started slugger Daniel Vogelbach with a 3-0 count. Castillo fought back to strike out Vogelbach, freezing him with a 97-mph fastball on the inside corner.
Castillo pumped his fist from the mound. He gave his glove his customary kiss as he looked to the sky while walking toward the dugout, then pumped both of his hands with excitement.
It was a bigger jam in the seventh inning. Avisaíl García reached on an infield single, a soft ground ball to third base. Omar Narváez, who broke up Castillo’s no-hit bid in the fifth inning, lined a single to left field to put two runners on base with one out.
After a fielder’s choice, a grounder that third baseman Eugenio Suárez bobbled, Castillo walked Jace Peterson to load the bases. The crowd of 16,584 was at full roar as Castillo prepared to face Bradley.
Castillo finished his outing by striking out Bradley in five pitches, a called third strike on a 98-mph fastball on his 109th pitch of the evening.
Reds starting pitchers own a 2.68 ERA in June. Castillo has been a big part of that, yielding seven hits and four runs in 18 2/3 innings through his three starts this month.
It’s no coincidence that the Reds have been playing their best baseball of the season as their starting pitching has stabilized.
The Reds couldn’t do anything offensively against Brett Anderson, a pitcher they chased out of a game six days beforehand with five runs in three innings.
Anderson, a junk ball lefty, fooled hitters all night with his changeup and induced weak contact. The Reds produced one hit against him in seven innings, sending only four balls into the outfield. Anderson struck out nine, which was one shy of his career-high and his highest total since 2015.
Kyle Farmer, who hit a one-out single in the third inning, was the only Reds runner to touch second base against Anderson. He moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Castillo, but Anderson struck out Jonathan India to end the inning.
Anderson permitted only two batters to reach base – Farmer’s single and a two-out walk by Jonathan India in the sixth inning. He exited after throwing 82 pitches as the Brewers turned to Williams with the game tied in the eighth inning.
It was probably the first time in the past year that any team was relieved to face Williams, last season’s National League Rookie of the Year.
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