With the roll the Reds are on, it doesn’t matter who they are facing. On Thursday, the victim was Brewers starter Kyle Lohse, who had not lost a game in over a month.
But Tony Cingrani matched Lohse pitch for pitch, Joey Votto launched a go-ahead solo home run and Devin Mesoraco did all the little things to lift the Reds to a 2-1 win over the Brewers in the opener of a four-game set at Miller Park.
With the win, the Reds have reeled off five straight and eight of nine, and they pulled to within 2 1/2 games of the National League Central-leading Pirates, who fell to the second-place Cardinals in a 12-inning affair earlier in the day.
“It was a very well-pitched game on both sides,” Mesoraco said. “Lohse, he doesn’t give you a whole lot to hit. He keeps the ball down, hits the corners, changes speeds. He’s tough. Joey was able to get one up in the air, and that was the difference in the game.”
Cingrani and four Cincinnati relievers made Votto’s sixth-inning tiebreaking home run hold up for a low-scoring win in a run-scoring ballpark.
At the time, Reds manager Dusty Baker didn’t think there was any way Votto’s homer would be the game-winner.
“You’d never think that at the time, especially in this ballpark, because these guys can hit,” said Baker, whose team improved its record to 49-22 against sub-.500 opponents this season. “We played well and we pick up a game.”
Starting pitching remained the constant for the streaking Reds, as Cingrani baffled the Brewers over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits, while walking one and striking out nine. The left-hander retired 16 of the first 18 batters he faced, and finished with 95 pitches, 66 for strikes.
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