Cincinnati Reds vs Milwaukee Brewers Match Player Stats On Aug 20, 2018

Travis Shaw hit a two-run home run to give the Brewers the lead, and Christian Yelich also homered to back the three-hit pitching of Chase Anderson and a shutdown bullpen as Milwaukee dumped the visiting Cincinnati Reds 5-2 on Monday night at Miller Park.

It was the Brewers' second straight win after three consecutive losses. Milwaukee holds the National League's top wild-card spot, with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Colorado Rockies and the St. Louis Cardinals tied for the NL's final playoff position, a half-game behind the Brewers.

Shaw's sixth-inning blast followed a single from Jesus Aguilar. He pulled an 0-2 pitch from Reds starter Homer Bailey to right field for his 25th home run of the season.

Anderson (8-7) gave up only two hits over six innings, both solo home runs. He retired the last 14 Reds he faced before leaving for a pinch hitter. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter.

With the Brewers down 2-0 through four innings, Yelich hammered a hanging knuckle curve from Bailey for a solo home run, his 20th of the season, in the fifth.

In six innings, Bailey (1-11) allowed three runs on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts. His season ERA actually dropped slightly to 6.21 as the Reds have lost all but one of his 17 starts this season.

The Reds jumped to a 2-0 lead when Eugenio Suarez led off the second with his 28th homer of the season, a 426-foot blast to left-center, which also raised his league-leading RBI count to 92. Two batters later, rookie Phillip Ervin hit his fourth home run.

Before and after that, it was all Milwaukee.

The Brewers added two insurance runs in the eighth on an RBI triple by pinch hitter Keon Broxton and a sacrifice fly by Manny Pina.

Brewers' All-Star reliever Josh Hader struck out three in two perfect innings following Anderson, and Jeremy Jeffress, another All-Star, allowed a hit and a walk in the ninth but got Scooter Gennett to ground into a game-ending double play for his fifth save.

Aguilar finished with three hits, and Lorenzo Cain and Pina had two each as the Brewers racked up 12.

Right-fielder Eric Thames was out of the Brewers' starting lineup for the third straight game. He left Friday's game with a sore knee after he collided with center fielder Cain.

--Field Level Media