Milwaukee Brewers were flying high heading into Cincinnati. They had won four straight and could go over .500 for the first time all season. Milwaukee hasn’t broken through that .500 threshold despite being there multiple times this season. Reds were also hot heading into this pivotal three-games series. Cincinnati had won eight of their last 10 and finally figured it out with all of their new pieces. Reds took game one of this pseudo playoff with a 6-3 victory against Milwaukee.

Player of the Game: Eugenio Suarez – If I had to guess which player made the most POGs that isn’t actually a player for the Milwaukee Brewers, Suarez might be my answer. He had the biggest knock in the game. It was the sixth inning, Milwaukee up by a run, and Saurez crushes a Brandon Woodruff pitch to left field making it a 2-1 game. Suarez has torment Brewers time and time again. Last night was no different.

Honorable Mention: Brandon Woodruff – Despite giving up the home run to Saurez, Woodruff pitched really well. He had another strong outing in a big game. Woodruff went nearly six innings, allowed only four hits, walked two and struck out nine. You will take that every time. It is a shame that he couldn’t get a little farther in the game, but that’s baseball.

One thing to be frustrated with: You have to figure out Castillo’s changeup – Look at this stat from yesterday’s broadcast below. How can the Brewers’ hitting staff not figure out ways around Luis Castillo’s changeup? I get it is a good pitch, but you still should have some small success against it. Those are disgusting number.

This is quite a stat from the Reds broadcast. 😳 pic.twitter.com/PJPYNuZd6h

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) September 21, 2020

The hunt for October: What makes this loss hurt more is everyone else lost around the Brewers-Reds. Cardinals fell to the Royals. Braves beat the Marlins. Phillies lost. Same with the San Francisco Giants. This could have been a huge night for the Brewers. Instead, it is a huge night for the Reds. If the playoffs began today, Brewers miss out by a half game to the Phillies.

Next up: Brewers and Reds get ready for round two tonight with Brett Anderson versus Sonny Gray. Anderson has faced Cincinnati twice this year with varied results. Reds are 24th in OPS versus left-handed pitchers. Gray is coming off the IL in this one which can yield interesting results. He was very tough on Milwaukee last time out and has been great at home.

Charlie.