Draw four.
After dropping their first four games of the season, the Milwaukee Brewers have responded by rattling off an equal winning streak to return to .500.
For the second straight night, the Brewers got a stellar start on the mound to come away with a one-run victory. Friday night at American Family Field, though, they added the element of a near no-hitter as they sent the Cincinnati Reds and their fledgling offense to a 3-2 defeat.
BOX SCORE:Brewers 3, Reds 2
Tyler Alexander, after opening the season in the bullpen, threw 5 ⅔ no-hit innings, and the bid was carried until there were two outs in the seventh.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Cincinnati scored a pair in the eighth – its first runs in April – but Trevor Megill worked around a one-out single in the ninth to record his first save.
Scoreless streak over for Reds; Brewers clinging to lead still
Thirty five innings later, the Reds have put a number beside zero on the board.
Cincinnati’s scoreless streak came to a close with Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth that brought the score to 3-1. Moments later, the ballgame turned into a full-on clencher as Jeimer Candelario’s line drive hit first base and ricocheted past Rhys Hoskins for a run-scoring double.
Joel Payamps got out of the inning with the Brewers still leading by one after the two runs, which were unearned thanks to Oliver Dunn’s error on a grounder to third.
Reds break up no-hitter in the seventh
Kenosha native Gavin Lux played spoiler to the crowd of Milwaukeeans.
The Reds leftfielder lined a single to center with two outs in the seventh off Abner Uribe for Cincinnati’s first hit of the night, the ball falling just in front of a charging Garrett Mitchell.
Santiago Espinal followed with the Reds’ second hit, an infield chopper for a single, but Uribe got Austin Wynns to ground out to get through the seventh with a 3-0 lead intact.
Brice Turang takes the team lead in homers
The Reds will not become the first team in MLB history to lose four straight games by a score of 1-0.
Brice Turang crushed a 3-1 cutter from Reds starter Nick Martinez 417 feet to right-center for a two-run home run with one out in the fifth, giving the Brewers a surprising team dinger leader at this point in the season. The second baseman is the first Brewers player to get to two homers.
Elly De La Cruz’s bunt attempt can’t break up no-no in sixth
Had it worked, a debate over baseball’s unwritten rules was sure to break out from all corners of the ballpark. Instead, the Brewers were able to carry their no-hitter into the seventh.
With one out in the sixth, Elly De La Cruz tried to break up the Brewers’ no-hitter by bunting against Alexander, but the southpaw jumped off the mound and fired a strike to get the speedy Reds shortstop by a fraction of a second as Rhys Hoskins narrowly managed to hold the bag at first.
That marked the end of the line for Alexander, who had only stretched out to four innings in spring and began the year in the bullpen, at 5 2/3 innings. Abner Uribe entered and got Christian Encarnacion-Strand to roll out to shortstop to end the sixth.
Five no-hit innings for Tyler Alexander
The Brewers keep getting superb starts from their starting rotation fill-ins this week.
Three days after Chad Patrick went 4 2/3 scoreless innings to lead Milwaukee to its first win of the season, Tyler Alexander has cruised through five no-hit innings. The 30 year old left-hander began the season pitching out of the bullpen, but the injury to Aaron Civale Sunday opened up another rotation spot. In stepped Alexander with aplomb.
Garrett Mitchell gets rewarded
Mitchell had yet to see much hard contact get rewarded this season, but a two-out line drive to left to drive home Sal Frelick in the second bucked that trend. It was Mitchell’s first RBI of the season and got the Brewers ahead, 1-0.
Tyler Alexander strikes out two in first inning, including Elly De La Cruz
Alexander carved up the Reds in a 12-pitch first inning in which he struck out two. After TJ Friedl hit a warning-track flyout to open the game, Alexander got Spencer Steer to swing through a cutter and capped the inning off with a three-pitch punch out of De La Cruz.
What time is the Brewers game?
Time: 7:10 p.m. CT
What channel is the Brewers game on tonight? TV, stream
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Network
Stream: Streaming is available on the FanDuel Sports Wisconsin app.
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turang 2B
- Jackson Chourio LF
- Christian Yelich DH
- William Contreras C
- Sal Frelick RF
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Oliver Dunn 3B
- Garrett Mitchell CF
- Joey Ortiz SS
Reds lineup
- TJ Friedl CF
- Matt McLain 2B
- Elly De La Cruz SS
- Christian Encarnacion-Strand 1B
- Jeimer Candelario DH
- Blake Dunn RF
- Gavin Lux LF
- Santiago Espinal 3B
- Austin Wynns C
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. Reds, Saturday 6:10 p.m: Milwaukee RHP Elvin Rodríguez (0-1, 9.00) vs. Cincinnati RHP Brady Singer (1-0, 0.00). TV – FanDuel Sports Extra/FS1. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Reds, Sunday 1:10 p.m: Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (0-0, 0.00) vs. Cincinnati RHP Carson Spiers (0-1, 1.50). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – 620 AM WTMJ.
Off-day Monday.
