Once a 5-2 loss to the first-place Brewers on Sunday sealed a three-game Milwaukee sweep, distance was the key word. Cincinnati started the weekend 1 1/2 games out of first, and it now trails by 3 1/2 games.

"We just weren't the Reds this series," said second baseman Brandon Phillips, who was 2-for-4 with a fifth-inning solo home run. "They came here ready because they knew we were ready. They saw us coming right behind them. Somebody had to step their game up. It was either going to be them or be us. It was them. They're a good team, but we're better."

Not this weekend, and definitely not Sunday at Miller Park.

The Reds had more chances to score than Milwaukee has beer kegs, but they went 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.

"That's not going to get it done," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

In the top of the second, Cincinnati came up empty after having the bases loaded and one out on Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo. In the third, after Jay Bruce's bloop RBI single, there were runners on first and second with one out -- but the rally died.

Gallardo (5-2) struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings, and the Reds struck out 14 times in the game overall.

"It's just sad it happened like this," Phillips said. "We had chances to win the game today. We had chances to win the game the day before. We just didn't come through. Good teams do little things to win. We have to do the small things. Get them over and get them in. They executed. That's why they're in first place."

Reds starter Micah Owings pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed five earned runs and eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts. By the time Owings retired a stretch of nine in a row and 10 of 11 batters, the damage was already done.

Owings (3-6) fell into a 2-0 hole rather quick. In the Milwaukee first after a J.J. Hardy walk and Ryan Braun single with one out, Mike Cameron hit a two-out RBI single. Mat Gamel followed Cameron with a bloop RBI single to left field. In the second inning, Hardy's sacrifice fly to center field scored Jason Kendall.

Following Prince Fielder's leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, Cameron sent a two-run home run over the left-field fence for a 5-1 Brewers lead.

"I definitely wasn't sharp out of the gate, combined with a couple of tough breaks there," Owings said. "I felt like I was being squeezed just a little bit. All of that put together, and it made it rough early. I just kept fighting."

Owings is winless over his past three starts while sporting an 8.56 ERA in those games. He has a 5.10 ERA through 10 games, including nine starts.

"The early innings got to him today," Baker said. "They found some holes, too. The middle innings, he settled down, big time. He threw the ball real good in the middle innings. Then it got tough to see out there with the shadows. You want to try and score before the shadows come. Once they come, it makes it difficult to see and hit. Neither side got many hits after the shadows came."

Reds relievers Nick Masset and David Weathers combined to retire all seven batters they faced. The lineup's final hit came on Owings' one-out single in the sixth that put runners on first and second. Appropriate for the day, the Reds did not score.

Before this lost weekend, the Reds had just swept the struggling last-place Astros and took two of three from another last-place team in the Indians. It was a confidence boost nonetheless, but that euphoria took a hit Saturday when first baseman and top hitter Joey Votto left the club with stress-related issues and went on the 15-day disabled list.

"It definitely has some effect, but you try not to think about it and try not to dwell on it," Baker said. "He's a top hitter in the league. It's going to have an effect, sure. I changed my whole lineup. We have to do what we can do until we get Joey back."

For a team that thrived on the road earlier this season, the Reds now have six straight road losses, dropping their away record to 13-11. Overall, they've dropped to just three games over .500 at 26-23.

To make this road trip a winning one, Cincinnati would have to sweep the next four games from the Cardinals, who entered Sunday tied for first place with the Brewers.

"We just have to learn from this and make sure we don't take it to St. Louis, or it will happen again," Phillips said.