Brewers 7, Reds 6: Santana, Knebel help secure uneasy victory

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Nothing ever seems to come easy for the Milwaukee Brewers when the Cincinnati Reds are involved.

The Brewers twice held four-run leads early in the game only to have to hang on for dear life at the end of a 7-6 victory on Tuesday night at Miller Park.

The Reds, who used a huge offensive series earlier in the month to deal Milwaukee a costly three-game sweep at Great American Ball Park, refused to go away in this one. They scored four runs from the fifth through the eighth innings before closer Corey Knebel finally was able to slam the door in the ninth.

Domingo Santana's three-run home run in the first was the big blow for the Brewers, who did their part to keep their postseason hopes alive. The Colorado Rockies, who Milwaukee is chasing for the second wild-card spot, were shutting out the Miami Marlins late.

Milwaukee wasted no time getting starter Zach Davies an early lead behind Santana's 29th homer of the season.

Eric Thames doubled to lead off, Neil Walker followed with a walk and then with two outs Santana took rookie Deck McGuire – making his first major-league start – out to left.

If Santana reaches 30 homers, the Brewers will have three players with 30 or more in the same season for just the second time in franchise history. Cecil Cooper, Ben Oglivie and Gorman Thomas all hit 30-plus in 1982, while Thames and Travis Shaw have already reached the mark this year.

Stephen Vogt, up next, legged out a double and he was driven in by an Orlando Arcia single to make it 4-0 and give the Brewers 110 first-inning runs on the year. The team record is 121, set in 1982.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 7, Reds 6

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Davies gave two of those runs back quickly in the second, when he plunked Eugenio Suarez in the chest with a pitch to open and Scott Schebler homered to right to cut the deficit in half at 4-2.

The Reds could have gotten even closer after Adam Duvall singled and Tucker Barnhart doubled, but a terrific relay and tag by Vogt at home cut Duvall down.

A major fielding miscue by former Brewer Scooter Gennett led to a couple easy insurance runs in the third. Shaw and Arcia both singled, and with two outs Brett Phillips sent a routine grounder to the right side that Gennett fielded but ultimately threw away with Phillips hustling down the line.

The ball wound up rolling past home plate, allowing both Shaw and Arcia to score to make it 6-2.

Davies's night ended after just four innings, with manager Craig Counsell pulling the plug on him after Billy Hamilton tripled and Zack Cozart walked to start the fifth. He allowed six hits, three runs and two walks without a strikeout, and lasted just four innings for the second time in three starts.

Davies threw 66 pitches in all.

Josh Hader took over, and Joey Votto greeted him with a sacrifice fly to left that made it 6-3. From there, Hader proceeded to strike out six of the next seven before running into trouble against Zack Cozart.

Hader (2-3) got ahead in the count, 0-2, before Cozart battled back to cap a 10-pitch at-bat with a homer to left-center. Votto followed by walking and Gennett singled, chasing Hader after 49 pitches.

Anthony Swarzak came on and was greeted by a bloop single to center by Suarez that pulled Cincinnati to within 6-5.

Vogt's third double of the game to start the bottom of the seventh wound up netting Milwaukee an insurance run, as he eventually came in to score on a two-out sacrifice fly to center by pinch-hitter Hernán Pérez.

It would come in handy as Jesse Winker hit a two-out, pinch-hit homer to right off Swarzak that made it 7-6.

The Reds went on to advance the tying run to second base in the ninth against Knebel with one out in the ninth, but he recovered to strike out Gennett and get Suarez to fly out to record his 38th save.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• Catcher Manny Piña missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained left thumb.

"We're trying. He's trying some different things," Counsell said. "I'd say there's some small progress but not as much as we need."

The Brewers have three other catchers on the roster, but Stephen Vogt made his fifth consecutive start. His left-handed bat makes him a good matchup against right-handed pitchers, but his veteran presence is also valuable.

Could he be behind the plate the rest of the way if Piña is unable to return?

"I don't know. I can't give you an answer to that," said Counsell. "We'll go day to day on that. See what tonight brings, how he feels, how he's doing and just make decisions from there."

• With all the furor surrounding the NFL and how players and teams handled the national anthem this past weekend, Counsell was asked if there have been any internal discussions with regard to the Brewers.

"With the team, we have not," he said. "Obviously, the (Bruce) Maxwell kid with Oakland (A's) has chosen to be on one knee during the anthem. I haven't sensed anything coming from our guys.

"If it happens, it happens but I haven't sensed anything."

If a Brewers player or players decide to take a knee during the anthem moving forward, Counsell said they have his support.

"I think it's bigger than an NFL thing right now," he said. "Certainly, it's an NFL thing in sports and a lot of NBA players have commented on it. It hasn't reached over to baseball quite as much but at some point, it will.

"I'm certainly all right with a stance that anyone wants to take here. That's my position on it. These are difficult issues. Protests are uncomfortable for everybody. That's why they're called protests. It's a topic that requires dialogue for our country.

"If anything, it's going to encourage further dialogue which we need to have."

STAT SHEET

• Keon Broxton became the eighth player in Brewers history to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in the same season on Sunday.

Braun has four such seasons to his credit – 2009, 2011-'12 and 2015. Carlos Gomez (2013-'14) and Corey Hart (2007-'08) each had two, and Tommy Harper (1970), Robin Yount (1980), Jeromy Burnitz (1997) and Marquis Grissom (1999) were the others.

TAKEAWAY

Things got a little dicey there late, but the Brewers were able to hold on and pull it out. The early offense helped, and the relief was good enough.

RECORD

This year: 83-74 (45-37 home; 38-37 away)

Last year: 71-86

ATTENDANCE

Tuesday: 30,079

2017 total: 2,493,547 (31,564 avg.)

Last year: 2,251,443 (28,499 avg.)

NEXT GAME

Wednesday: Brewers vs. Reds, 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (2-2, 3.76) vs. Cincinnati RHP Homer Bailey (5-9, 6.96). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.