MILWAUKEE – The Cincinnati Reds returned to the scene of their greatest moment of 2025 only to get reminded why the Milwaukee Brewers’ ballpark as been a house of horrors for the Reds for years.
Joey Ortiz’s two-out, two-run home run off Tejay Antone in the bottom of the eighth gave the Milwaukee Brewers a familiar-feeling, 5-3 win over the Reds and sent the Reds to their 18th loss in 22 games against division opponents this season.
Until the seventh, the Reds looked like they might pick up where they left off last September when they snapped a 13-series losing streak to the Brewers with a series win that clinched a final-day playoff spot for Cincinnati.
They’ve lost five straight to the Brewers since clinching that season-ending series, including the finale of that one and a three-game sweep at Great American Ball Park last week.
They also appeared to lose another player in this one, with centerfielder Dane Myers carted off the field in the fourth after making a spectacular catch and then crashing face/headfirst into the wall at full speed. He held on to the ball but fell to the ground, writhing in pain as he shed his glove and as teammates called for trainers.
Initial x-rays were negative, the team said, but he was sent to the hospital for further evaluation of his head, neck and shoulder areas.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo, who entered the game with a 5.59 ERA in nine starts, gave up only one hit in five innings but needed 96 pitches to navigate that distance because of four walks, a hit batter and traffic in every inning but his last one.
It marked nine scoreless innings against the Brewers for Lodolo in two starts, including a four-inning start at home that was abbreviated by the comebacker that hit his wrist and knocked him out of the game. (He made his next start on schedule.)
Nine scoreless against the division-leading team on pace for 100 wins?
“You take that any way you can get it. A zero’s a zero at the end of the day,” Lodolo said. “But when you look at it and break it down, I definitely think I’m making it a lot harder on myself. I’ve got to clean that up and be ready to roll again.
“I’ve got to go deeper into games.”
In this one, he handed off a 3-0 lead to the bullpen before the waters got more treacherous for the Reds.
Spencer Steer scored the first run of the game in the first hitting a two-out single to right, moving up on JJ Bleday’s walk and scoring on Myers’ double to left.
Elly De La Cruz, who was back at the top of the lineup as the DH the day after turning his ankle breaking from the box on a grounder, lined a two-run homer to left from the right side with one out in the fifth for the three-run lead.
Rookie Chase Petty, who on Saturday became the franchise-record 11th Red this year to earn a save, gave up the lead before he got five outs.
A one-out double by Andrew Vaughn in the sixth, followed by a walk, run-scoring single and wild pitch quickly turned it into a one-run game.
And then Brice Turang drove a 418-foot shot to center high off the batter’s eye with one out in the seventh to tie it.
Petty exited in favor of Sam Moll two batters later. Moll got the game two outs deep into the eighth before turning it over to Antone with a man on base.
Four pitches later, Ortiz lined a 1-2 pitch halfway up the batter’s eye in center.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds blow lead, lose to Brewers on 8th-inning home run
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
