There are three parts of a baseball game. One part is hitting. One part is pitching. One part is fielding/defense. The third part let down the Brewers tonight, and that’s what they needed to win this game. Cincinnati beat Milwaukee 9-7 with five unearned runs. If Milwaukee has a clean sheet tonight, it’s possible they may have won this baseball game, 7-4 and be only 2 games back of the Chicago Cubs who also lost today. Instead, Eric Thames had an error that led to two Cincinnati runs. Fourth inning had Mike Moustakas’ costly error that led to one run scored and open the flood gates to the other. Baseball will break your heart sometimes, and the Brewers squandered another major opportunity.

Player of the Game: Scooter Gennett – Sigh. This hurts to write a little bit. Scooter knocked a home run to beat the Milwaukee Brewers tonight. That hurts a ton. He finds a way to make a major difference in one Brewers-Reds game, and this is one. Scooter socked a ninth inning homer versus a left-hander Dan Jennings. The Brewers lefty has been good versus left-handers most of the year, but he put a get-me-over slider that stayed over the plate leading to a home run. Not a great look.

Silver Star: Ryan Braun – Even though he did not start in this game, Braun delivered with two hits. One being the game-tying double against Raisel Iglesias who is one of the better late-game relievers in baseball. Braun faced an 0-2 pitch and served it right into left field. He’s been so great this month. It’s been awesome to watch Braun have a strong month of success.

Silver Star: Corbin Burnes – Worth giving a shout to the Brewers reliever who pitched nearly three innings of perfect baseball. Burnes struck out two batters, and he got out of a jam in the sixth then the eighth as well. I’m very excited for Burnes to be a starter next season, and he’s going to be pretty damn good with the young rotation of stars coming for Milwaukee.

Next up
They have another day game, and let’s hope this is better than the last one at Miller Park. This game will probably come down to whose pitcher will control the strike zone better. Cincinnati’s Robert Stephenson has nine walks in two starts in six innings. Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta has some similar issues, and he blew up versus Cincinnati earlier this season. This is a must-win for Milwaukee. No question about it.

Charlie.