Brewers drop rain-soaked game to Reds, 5-3

That lead only held until the bottom the inning. With Dustin May pitching, Elly De La Cruz launched a solo home run of his own, tying the game at 1-1. The Reds threatened after that with a Sal Stewart single and stolen base, but May stranded him there.

Both teams traded 1-2-3 innings in the second. In the third, David Hamilton led off the inning with a single. After Chourio flew out, Luis Lara was up to bat. Hamilton went for the steal but Abbott threw to first to try to pick him off. Stewart threw to second and likely would have had him with a good throw, but the throw sailed into left field and Hamilton made it to third. Lara brought in Hamiilton with a groundout, and the Brewers had a 2-1 lead.

May held that lead until the fourth inning. He struck out two of the first three batters he saw, with a JJ Bleday single in-between the strikeouts. Eugenio Suárez worked an eight-pitch at-bat before singling to put runners at the corners. As this was going on, rain started falling harder on the field, and the game entered a rain delay.

The delay lasted for two hours and 22 minutes. Initially, it looked like it would end about halfway through that, but a second wave of rain hit and extended the delay. When the delay ended, both starters were done for the day. May was going to be pulled even if it was a shorter delay, though Abbott might have continued with a short delay.

When the game resumed, Pat Murphy brought in DL Hall. Jose Trevino was the first batter back from the delay, and he tied the game with a single to right. That run was charged to May, and the Reds had a 2-2 lead. Hall struck out Carlos Jorge to end the inning

May’s day came to an early end for the second time in three games, this time thanks to the rain delay. He finished the day with 3 2/3 innings pitched, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts. He only threw 56 pitches, and the rain delay ended his chance at a redemption start.

Both bullpens took over from here. Julian Garcia worked around a walk for a clean fifth. Hall got into a little bit of two-out trouble, allowing a single and a walk, but struck out Bleday to end the inning.

Tejay Antone pitched the sixth for the Reds. He walked Andrew Vaughn but that was all. JoJo Romero took the sixth for the Brewers. He did not fare as well. Tyler Stephenson led off the inning, and he hit a high and inside sinker into the left field stands. Romero got through the next three batters without issue, but the Brewers were now behind 3-2.

The Brewers responded in the next inning against Tony Santillan. Cooper Pratt, Gary Sánchez, and Hamilton hit three straight singles to load the bases with one out. Jackson Chourio tied the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Pratt and moving Sánchez to third. After Lara walked to reload the bases, Contreras struck out to end the threat.

Once again, the Reds responded right away. Aaron Ashby took the seventh, and he also gave up a leadoff home run. This time, it was by Matt McLain, who hit a sinker right down the middle out to right field. The Brewers were behind 4-3 now. The Reds kept the pressure up with a Hector Rodriguez single, and initially he stretched it into a double as he just got into second. However, on review, Chourio’s throw got to Brice Turang (who entered the game in the seventh) just in time, and Turang got the tag. That erased a potential double, which kept another run from scoring after Stewart hit a single two batters later. Ashby got out of the inning, though the Brewers were still behind.

Reds’ reliever Brock Burke kept the Brewers in check in the eighth inning. Grant Anderson came in for the eighth inning for the Brewers. After a one-out double by Suárez, Trevino was up at the plate. On a 2-2 count, Anderson spiked a ball in the dirt to Sánchez’s right, but it took a sharp bounce and ended up at the backstop to Sánchez’s left. Sánchez couldn’t find the ball, and Suárez ran home from second. There was a chance to get Suárez at home plate, but Sánchez’s quick throw was off and Suárez scored. It was an unfortunate run that pushed the deficit to 5-3.

With the Brewers down two and facing closer Emilio Pagán in the ninth, Murphy went all-out to try and get the lead. He started off by pinch hitting Christian Yelich for Pratt, but Yelich struck out. Sánchez doubled to get a runner in scoring position, as well as bring the tying run to the plate. Murphy used another pinch-hitter in Jake Bauers, this time for Hamilton. It would have been a very interesting defensive alignment had the game continued, with Murphy pinch-hitting for two of his three infielders, after already pinch-hitting for Joey Ortiz earlier in the game.

The move did work as Bauers drew a walk. Jackson Chourio then loaded the bases with a single to left, putting the go-ahead run at first base. The Brewers had two chances to grab the lead from there. Lara popped out to short for the second out. Contreras then put together a seven-pitch at-bat, and finished it hitting a ball deep to center field. Unfortunately, it was not deep enough, and it turned into a routine fly out to end the game.

Sánchez and Hamilton led the offense with two-hit days. Chourio, Lara, and Contreras each drove in a run. The offense scattered eight hits and four walks in the game, but the Reds’ offense was better with 12 hits and a walk.

Including the delay, this game took five hours and seven minutes. With the game ending just before 11 p.m. Central (midnight Eastern), both teams will barely have twelve hours between games. Tomorrow’s rubber match will take place at 11:10 a.m., and Kyle Harrison will face Brady Singer.