, who made his major league debut last month. ''We're going to come back tomorrow and get ready to win these next four games here, and we'll get ready to make the playoffs.'' Not with these kind of nights. The Brewers can't afford another letdown when they wrap up their series with Cincinnati on Thursday.Joey Votto hit his team-high 36th home run and Homer Bailey (6-9) threw seven strong innings for the Reds.Tucker Barnhart opened the third with a home run and Bailey followed with a double. A one-out walk and four straight singles finished Woodruff.''Any big innings in the National League often revolve around the pitcher getting on base. You've got to make that spot an out,'' Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.The Brewers were held to four hits. Bailey settled down after a choppy first to make his longest start since Aug. 7, 2014. He allowed four hits, walked three and struck out four.''That was good downward angle on a very good fastball and was able to make some nice pitches with his slider,'' Reds manager Bryan Price said. ''A great way to finish the year.'' OUTTA HEREDown by six runs in the fourth, the Brewers took a gamble on the bases that failed.Milwaukee managed to get runners on first and second with two outs, but Travis Shaw was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Billy Hamilton while trying to score on Orlando Arcia's single.OWNING ITThe Brewers are running out of time to gain ground in a playoff race that few fans outside of Milwaukee thought was possible when the season began. At 83-75, they might have to settle for the satisfaction of having already clinched a winning season, an impressive feat for a franchise in just its second full year of rebuilding.''You know, it's been a great ride for a lot of reasons. It was not expected this season,'' team owner Mark Attanasio said before the game. ''Or, if somebody did expect it, I'd like to know who it was. Maybe Craig Counsell might have expected it.'' HOMER HPYBailey allowed the first two batters to reach in the first before Ryan Braun bounced into a 6-4-3 double play that boosted his confidence.''I had a little trouble there early and just tried to keep in mind sometimes you're one pitch away from something really good happening,'' Bailey said. ''From there, I was fortunate enough to have a little reset there in the second.'' TRAINER'S ROOMReds: SS Zack Cozart left the game before the bottom of the third with right quad tightness.Brewers: 1B Eric Thames writhed in pain for about a minute on the ground after fouling a ball in the eighth inning off his right foot. He limped back to the dugout on a 1-2 count, with Eric Sogard striking out to finish the at-bat. Counsell said X-rays were negative and Thames was diagnosed with a foot contusion.UP NEXTReds: RHP Sal Romano (5-7), one of four rookies in the rotation, makes his final start of the year. He is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in two starts this year against Milwaukee.Brewers: LHP Brent Suter (3-2) is 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA in six games against the Reds. He allowed five runs on four hits in five innings in his only start against Cincinnati on Aug. 12.--- freelance writer Andrew Wagner contributed to this story.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
No margin for error as Brewers host Reds 1h ago• 2 min read MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers' playoff push continues Wednesday night when rookie right-hander Brandon Woodruff takes on Homer Bailey and the Cincinnati Reds in the second game of a three-game series at Miller Park.The Brewers (83-74) are playing with an almost non-existent margin of error. Milwaukee, which has five games remaining, sits five games back of the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs (88-69) and 1 1/2 games behind the Colorado Rockies (84-73) for the second NL wild card.The St. Louis Cardinals (82-75) linger another game behind in the wild-card race.Milwaukee got no help Tuesday as the Cardinals and Rockies won, but scoreboard-watching won't help with the task at hand, Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt said."I caught myself thinking about looking out there, but I had a little bit more going on every time I thought about looking at the scoreboard," said Vogt, who had a career-high three doubles and scored twice in the Brewers' 7-6 victory over the Reds on Tuesday night. "Obviously, we're watching. But if we do our part, if we take care of these next five games the way we know we can, the chips fall where they fall."This is fun. Not very many teams -- I think there's only a handful of teams playing meaningful games right now. We're one of them. That's all that matters. We're going to keep doing that. We're going to keep fighting every day." Vogt is likely to see the bulk of the action behind the plate as Milwaukee finishes the season. He settled into primarily a backup role after returning from a knee injury, but with Manny Pina sidelined by a sprained thumb, Vogt is Milwaukee's main catcher for now."Losing Manny is a huge hit and we're feeling it," Vogt said. "But I'm excited to be in there every day and continue what I've done since I came here, and that's help this team win in any way I can." Vogt will be charged with keeping the Woodruff in check Wednesday. The rookie right-hander is 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA in four starts this month since his Sept. 1 recall from Triple-A Colorado Springs.Woodruff (2-2, 3.76 ERA) has never faced the Reds, whose offense has been a thorn in the side of Milwaukee pitchers all season and has outscored the Brewers 27-15 over the past four meetings."It's a team we've struggled with," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. "It's certainly a big part of it, us keeping them down with runs." Bailey (5-9, 6.96 ERA) makes his fourth of the season against the Brewers. He is 1-1 with a 7.07 ERA against Milwaukee this year but held the Brewers to three runs on six hits in six-plus innings earlier this month as the Reds kicked off a three-game sweep with a 5-4 victory in Cincinnati."(That) was like Homer of 2012 and 2013," manager Bryan Price said of Bailey's performance against the Brewers. "He had both good stuff and command." Bailey went 1-2 with a 5.75 ERA in his three starts since beating Milwaukee. He made it through only four innings his last time out, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks in a loss to St. Louis on Thursday.He is 6-9 with a 4.87 ERA in 25 career starts vs. Milwaukee.
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