Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Billy Hamilton's go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth inning lifted the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game set.
Zack Cozart led off the ninth with a single off Francisco Rodriguez (2-2), and after pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago moved him over to second with a sacrifice bunt, Hamilton brought him home with a base hit into right.
"Billy came up huge," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "That's a huge hit, simply because it doesn't put (Todd) Frazier in that two-out situation."
Aroldis Chapman struck out two in a 1-2-3 bottom half to nail down his 11th save of the year.
Jonathan Broxton (2-0) fired a scoreless eighth to earn the win.
Todd Frazier posted two hits, an RBI and two runs scored for the Reds, who have won three in a row and five of their last seven games.
Khris Davis crushed a solo shot for Milwaukee, which came in winners in four of its last five.
The game was tied 1-1 after four innings before the Reds surged ahead following a four-run fifth.
Cozart led off with an infield single and Homer Bailey reached on his sacrifice bunt attempt when Matt Garza committed a throwing error to put runners on second and third. After Hamilton lined out, Frazier singled through the hole on the right side to plate Cozart and Bailey came around on Joey Votto's base hit to right.
Brandon Phillips laid down a squeeze bunt to bring home Frazier, and Jay Bruce's double allowed Votto to score and give the Reds a 5-1 lead.
Milwaukee got all four runs back in the seventh.
After Davis led off with his blast, Mark Reynolds singled. Following Irving Falu's lineout, Logan Schafer grounded a base hit through the hole on the left side. Sam LeCure came on to replace Bailey and Scooter Gennett's base hit brought home Reynolds.
Gennett then stole second during Ryan Braun's at-bat, but Braun struck out when he chased a curveball in the dirt. Jonathan Lucroy beat out a tapper to third to score Schafer, and Carlos Gomez followed with a liner into left to plate Gennett and tie the game. Logan Ondrusek came on and induced an inning- ending groundout off the bat of Aramis Ramirez.
"I liked the effort and it shows with us coming back and tying it," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said.
Earlier, the Reds opened the scoring on Phillips' two-out RBI single in the first, but Milwaukee tied it in the fourth on Ramirez's two-out RBI double.
Game Notes
Bailey struck out six and allowed four runs on six hits and three walks over 6 1/3 frames, while Garza yielded five runs -- one earned -- on seven hits and a walk over seven innings.
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