Brewers rally for 4 in 7th, beat Reds 7-4 to increase lead

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Omar Narváez hit a tiebreaking double in a four-run seventh inning, Kolten Wong added a two-run homer in the eighth and the Milwaukee Brewers rallied past the Cincinnati Reds 7-4 on Tuesday night.

Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames exited early with a leg injury, but the first-place Brewers hit a trio of sacrifice flies to win the opener of a three-game series between the top two teams in the NL Central.

They increased their division lead to 8 1/2 games over Cincinnati, which remained a game ahead of the Padres for the second NL wild card. San Diego lost 5-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hunter Strickland (3-1) pitched a scoreless inning in relief of starter Corbin Burnes to help Milwaukee win for the 11th time in 14 games. Josh Hader earned his 27th save in 28 chances.

“We got to their bullpen and made them work,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "Any time you can make a team, after a good start from their starter, use a bunch of bullpen guys and come out with a win, especially in the first game of a series, that’s a satisfying win because you hope you took a piece of their bullpen as well.”

Milwaukee’s comeback came after the Reds scored three in the fourth off Burnes, the Brewers' ace.

“Our offense had a great approach,” Cincinnati manager David Bell said. “Got out in front and scored multiple runs off an excellent pitcher.”

Reds starter Tyler Mahle held Milwaukee to one run before getting lifted in the sixth.

Milwaukee trailed 4-1 in the seventh but began the inning with three straight hits off reliever Michael Lorenzen (0-1). Wong’s run-scoring single cut the deficit to 4-2. After Lorenzen walked Jace Peterson to load the bases, Mychal Givens gave up consecutive sacrifice flies to Christian Yelich and Avisaíl Garcia.

Narváez then laced a double...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Brewers-rally-for-4-in-7th-beat-Reds-7-4-to-16410019.php