Cincinnati, OH – Dioner Navarro drove in a pair of runs and Johnny Cueto pitched seven innings as the Cincinnati Reds moved into a tie for the best record in the majors with a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Cincinnati, which has already locked up the NL Central, is now tied with Washington for the best overall record in the majors as the Nationals lost to the Phillies on Tuesday.
Milwaukee, meanwhile, took a big blow to any playoff hopes as the team is now 4 1/2 games back of St. Louis, which beat Houston on Tuesday, for the final wild card spot in the National League.
"It's certainly looking a lot tougher," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of his team's postseason chances. "We're gonna have to get some big-time help."
Cueto (19-9) gave up just two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks in his second straight win. Joey Votto and Jay Bruce each drove in a run for the Reds, who have won six of eight.
"Washington has a good team and so do we so we'll see what happens," said Bruce.
Aramis Ramirez hit a solo home run and Jean Segura drove in the other run for the Brewers, who have lost three of their last four. Michael Fiers (9-9) was tagged for four runs on nine hits in just 4 1/3 innings.
The Reds struck in the second inning. Bruce singled to leadoff and Chris Heisey and Drew Stubbs followed with hits to load the bases. Navarro then drove home two with a single to left. After Cueto sacrificed, Brandon Phillips singled to again load the bases. Fiers, though, got Zack Cozart to hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Milwaukee got one back in the fifth inning as Carlos Gomez doubled with two outs and scored when Segura singled to right. Segura, though, was thrown out trying to reach third base on the play to end the inning.
Cincinnati got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Cozart tripled off the wall in center to start the frame and quickly came home when Votto followed with a double. Two batters later, Bruce doubled home Votto for a 4-1 advantage.
Ramirez's one-out solo blast in the seventh -- a towering shot into the second deck of left field -- made it a 4-2 game.
The Brewers, though, didn't get another man on base as Jonathan Broxton set them down in order in the eighth and Aroldis Chapman did the same in the ninth for his 36th save of the season.
Game Notes
Cueto is 2-1 with a 1.93 earned run average along with 28 strikeouts in four starts against the Brewers this season ... Cincinnati went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position ... Milwaukee left just one man on base in the game ... The Reds have won eight of the 13 games against the Brewers this season.
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