Brewers beat Reds 10-7 as bats cover for Drohan
Milwaukee outslugged Cincinnati 10-7 despite a rocky start from Shane Drohan, keeping an 8-game NL Central lead over the Cubs intact with 21 games to play.
Turang, Pratt cover for a shaky Drohan start
Rain pushed things back in Cincinnati — per @ctrent, a delay was expected from 6-7 with a decision meeting set for 5:45 — but once it started, the Brewers made up for lost time, beating the Reds 10-7. Shane Drohan lasted only 4.0 innings, allowing 6 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5, the kind of line that usually costs a team the game.
Reds10-7It didn't cost Milwaukee this one. Brice Turang went 3-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI, and Cooper Pratt drove in 4 on a 1-for-4 night that included a triple and a stolen base, more than enough to erase Drohan's outing. Trevor Megill closed it with a perfect inning — 3 strikeouts, no hits, no walks — a night after the Brewers' own account said he'd been named the NL's Reliever of the Month for August.
The win capped a stretch that opened with a 17-3 loss in Chicago on August 31, ran through 9-4 and 9-5 wins over the Cubs, a 2-1 loss on September 3, and Friday's 10-7 finish in Cincinnati — the 3-2 mark the last five games carry.
Eight up with 21 to play
At 88-54, Milwaukee's lead over Chicago hasn't moved in weeks. Per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, the Brewers arrived at Wrigley Field with an eight-game lead over the Cubs and left with an eight-game lead over the Cubs, with 21 games still to play — a split series that changed nothing about the shape of the division.
Behind Chicago, the rest of the Central is running out of math faster than games: St. Louis' elimination number sits at 4, Pittsburgh's at 3, and Cincinnati — Milwaukee's opponent again tonight — is down to 1. The race for the division was decided months ago; what's left is how many teams get eliminated from it before October.
Upcoming
Dustin May (6-9, 4.69 ERA) starts for Milwaukee tonight. His last time out, on August 30 against Texas, he lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts in a loss. Cincinnati counters with Andrew Abbott (6-10, 4.49 ERA), who was rocked for 7 earned runs in only 3 innings against the Cubs on August 29, also a loss. Milwaukee still has Sunday's series finale in Cincinnati before coming home to host the Cubs on Monday.
The Brewers are in Cincinnati tonight as the favorite, and the market's high-scoring read lines up with both starters' recent trouble — neither has made it through 5 innings his last time out. For that number to hold, someone's bullpen has to do what Milwaukee's did in Friday's finale, when Trevor Megill slammed the door with a clean ninth.