Cincinnati smacks four home runs, beats Brewers
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Sixth-inning home runs by Ryan Ludwick and Zack Cozart sent Cincinnati in front for good, and the Reds knocked four out of the park in all to take a 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.
Ludwick and Cozart were two of seven position players to record at least two hits for Cincinnati, which received seven-plus solid innings out of starter Bronson Arroyo in claiming its 13th win in 18 games.
Arroyo (13-9) struck out six without a walk and was charged with three runs on seven hits. J.J. Hoover and Aroldis Chapman finished off the outing with a scoreless inning of work, with the latter earning his 33rd save.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Wily Peralta worked around seven hits to allow just one run over five innings, but John Axford (6-7) couldn't hold Milwaukee's 2-1 lead intact, serving up the homers to Ludwick and Cozart.
Khris Davis and Scooter Gennett each knocked in a run and Caleb Gindl hit a pinch-hit homer off Arroyo in the eighth for Milwaukee, which was coming off a 6-4 win in the opener of this three-game set.
Ludwick was thrown out at the plate back in the fourth inning, but helped the Reds get the run back in the sixth. Axford took over on the mound and Ludwick sent his second pitch over the wall for his first homer of the season, tying the score at 2-2.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"It looked like his stuff was okay, but he just must not be locating," said Brewers manager Ron Roenicke about Axford. "
Jack Hannahan then reached with a single and Cozart sent the Reds in front with a two-run shot over the left center field wall. Votto then took reliever Michael Gonzalez deep to start the seventh and Cozart added an RBI single off Burke Badenhop for a comfortable four-run cushion.
Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Gomez each singled to start the second and both came in to score soon after to put the Brewers ahead 2-0. Ramirez trotted home when Davis belted a pitch up in the zone off the wall in left for a double and Gomez, who moved to third on the extra-base hit, scored on Gennett's sac fly.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"Luckily, I salvaged that inning only giving up two runs," said Arroyo. "It was big because if you give up that third one it makes a bit of a difference. We just stayed steady and came back."
Cincinnati was denied a run in the fourth when Ludwick was thrown out at home trying to score from first on a double from Hannahan, but Chris Heisey got the Reds on the board an inning later with a one-out solo homer.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Arroyo has won four straight starts ... Davis went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games ... Not one player on Milwaukee had multiple hits ... Shin-Soo Choo was the only position player for the Reds not to record a hit ... The Brewers were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position while the Reds finished 1-for-6 with RISP.