 beat the Brewers for the second time in three starts this season, matching his career high with 12 strikeouts in eight innings. He allowed four hits to a starting lineup missing All-Stars Christian Yelich and Yasmani Grandal, who were getting rest.Gray left after throwing 111 pitches. Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 17 chances.Puig connected in the second inning off Jhoulys Chacin (3-9), who hasn't won since April. The right-hander is 0-6 in his last nine games with a 5.93 ERA. He struck out a season-high eight and allowed seven hits.Chacin grabbed his right side after running to cover first base in the fifth inning. Manager Craig Counsell and a trainer visited the mound, but the right-hander remained in the game. He left after giving up Puig's single and Jose Iglesias' RBI single in the seventh.Puig added a sacrifice fly in the eighth, his second straight game with starring moments. Puig scored the winning run with a dash to the plate on a throwing error in the 11th inning Tuesday night for a 5-4 victory. Puig has homered in eight of his last 17 games.TRAINER'S ROOMBrewers: Left-hander Gio Gonzalez threw in the bullpen. He'll have another bullpen session over the weekend and could begin a rehab assignment next week. He's been sidelined since June 1 with a sore arm.Reds: Center fielder Nick Senzel was scheduled to get a day off, but he went into the game after Gennett left.UP NEXTBrewers: Brandon Woodruff (10-2) fanned a career-high 12 during a 7-5 win over the Reds at Miller Park on June 23, allowing three runs in seven innings.Reds: Luis Castillo (7-3) has yet to beat the Brewers in three tries this season. He's allowed 11 runs in 13 1/3 innings as the Reds lost 1-0, 11-9 and 6-5.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Reds go for back-to-back wins over BrewersFLMYasiel Puig showed the Milwaukee Brewers that he wasn't afraid to take chances on the bases, and his aggressive mindset allowed the Cincinnati Reds to even their four-game series at one win apiece.Powered by Puig's heroics, the Reds look to post back-to-back victories for the first time since last month's season-high, six-game winning streak when they host the Brewers on Wednesday.Puig, who had been on first base, scored in the 11th inning of Cincinnati's 5-4 win Tuesday after right fielder Christian Yelich's throw back to the infield on a single by Jose Iglesias eluded first baseman Eric Thames."Some stupid things you do in baseball work for myself and work for the team," Puig said of his decision to bolt home from third base.While Puig may have been alluding to Chicago Cubs reliever Pedro Strop's recent comments that were aimed in his direction and included the word "stupid," the 28-year-old Cuban was pretty smart on the bases on Tuesday. Puig also successfully tagged up from first base on a fly ball to deep center field in the ninth."You can live with the aggressiveness because when guys have the freedom to be aggressive ...," Reds manager David Bell said. "Man, he willed that win with his baserunning. To win a game with baserunning, that's pretty cool. That's fun. That doesn't always happen." Puig also hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to improve to 11-for-29 (.379) with three homers and nine RBIs against Milwaukee this season.He is also 11-for-29 with two homers against the Brewers' scheduled starter for Wednesday, Jhoulys Chacin (3-8, 5.60 ERA). The Milwaukee right-hander is mired in an eight-start winless streak after recording his second straight no-decision on Friday despite allowing only one run in five innings versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.Chacin is 3-3 with a 4.26 ERA in in 12 career appearances (10 starts) versus the Reds. He beat them on April 2, allowing two runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 4-3 win. He didn't fare as well against them on June 22, allowing five runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings, but he came away with a no-decision as the Brewers won 6-5.Chacin would be wise to keep an eye on Eugenio Suarez, who has four homers in his last three games after belting three two-run shots in this series.Cincinnati will counter with right-hander Sonny Gray (4-5, 3.94 ERA), who sports a 1-0 mark with a 2.76 ERA in three career starts against Milwaukee. The 29-year-old recorded the lone win after striking out a season-high-tying nine batters in six innings during a 3-0 victory on May 21.Gray also pitched well in his last outing, surrendering two runs on four hits in 6 1/3 innings on Friday in a 6-3 win against the Chicago Cubs.Yelich has homered among his three career at-bats versus Gray and has gone deep twice in this series and four times against the Reds since June 20.While Thames belted his 15th homer in 38 career games against the Reds, his manager lamented the game-ending sequence that involved the first baseman."It got away from Eric too far," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "If you just knock it down, nothing happens. You can't let it get away from you that much. In the end, we didn't make a defensive play." --Field Level Media
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