The seventh inning becomes a nightmare
CINCINNATI - Things went from bad to worse in the blink of an eye for the Milwaukee Brewers on a sweltering Saturday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
Having thwarted potential big rallies by the Cincinnati Reds in both the fifth and sixth innings, the Brewers went on to endure their worst inning of the season in the seventh.
The Reds sent 11 batters to the plate and scored eight times, turning what had been a tightly contested affair into a total laugher. By the time all was said and done, the Brewers had suffered a tough-to-swallow 12-3 loss.
Milwaukee was clinging to a 3-2 lead when things quickly got out of hand.
Taylor Williams, who needed to battle his way out of a tight spot in the sixth, allowed a leadoff single to open the Reds' seventh.
With both Jeremy Jeffress and Josh Hader presumably unavailable, manager Craig Counsell called on recently recalled left-hander Mike Zagurski to face at least the twosome of Joey Votto and Scooter Gennett.
Votto battled Zagurski — pitching in the major leagues for the first time since 2013 — for a walk and Scooter Gennett followed by lofting a fly ball to left field that Eric Thames misplayed into a double, tying the game.
Eugenio Suárez was then walked intentionally to load the bases for Jesse Winker, and he singled to left to put the Reds ahead, 4-3.
Things quickly spiraled out of control from there.
Jacob Barnes replaced Zagurski and allowed consecutive singles to Adam Duvall and Tucker Barnhart. That brought up pitcher Michael Lorenzen, who promptly provided the coup de gras by crushing a grand slam to leftcenter field.
It was the Reds' major-league-leading ninth grand slam of the season, and Lorenzen's second homer in as many games.
Lorenzen took a curtain call after rounding the bases, while the Brewers could do nothing but cringe.
Barnes finally finished up the inning, and catcher Erik Kratz got the call for the eighth. It was his third career pitching performance and second by a Brewer position player this season.
The Brewers had to battle hard for their three runs off Reds starter Tyler Mahle, who struck out a career-high 12 in 52⁄3 innings. Milwaukee hitters struck out a season-high 18 times altogether.
Thames homered two batters into the game. Then after the Reds came back to tie it at 1-1 against starter Jhoulys Chacín, Milwaukee got an RBI double from Jonathan Villar and an RBI groundout from Kratz to take a 3-1 lead in the sixth.
Cincinnati got a run back in the bottom of the sixth after Williams allowed a pair of singles and a walk to open his appearance, but he was able to keep it at 3-2 heading to the decisive seventh.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
PRETTY CLOSE: The Brewers finished the first half of the season with a 48-33 record, the second best in franchise history. Only the 2014 team posted a better mark 81 games into the year, at 49-32.
ERIC THE RED: By going deep in the first inning, Thames made it 14 homers in 22 career games against the Reds and seven homers in 11 career games at Great American Ball Park.
GOING DEEP: Thames's homer also gave the Brewers homers in 18 consecutive games at Great American Ball Park, tying them for the longest such streak in the facility's history. The Reds also homered in 18 consecutive games from April 25-May 29, 2010. Milwaukee has hit a total of in the streak that dates to Sept. 13, 2016.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW: Chacín thought he had struck out Winker to close out the fourth, and was actually walking off the mound when he realized home-plate umpire Chad Fairchild had instead called a ball.
Chacín tapped his chest as if to say, "My bad," then promptly got a called third from Fairchild on his next offering.
NEWS ON NELSON: General manager David Stearns was in Appleton on Friday for Zach Davies's rehab start with Class A Wisconsin. Among the topics he discussed with reporters was the progress of right-hander Jimmy Nelson's comeback from last September's shoulder surgery, and the fact he continues to throw only off flat ground. “I'm sure there is a cut-off date (for it being too late to return) but we're not close to it yet,” Stearns said.