Brewers: Carlos Gomez powers Crew to 6th straight victory
By Phil Watson
The Milwaukee Brewers kept right on rolling on the road Friday, pounding out 16 more hits—including a grand slam by Carlos Gomez in the seventh inning that turned the game into a rout—in a 12-1 pummeling of the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark.
Mike Fiers (4-7) worked seven shutout innings for the Brewers (34-48), allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out two.
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It is Milwaukee’s longest winning streak since taking nine in a row from April 4-13 last year.
The Brewers were leading 5-0 when Gomez came to the plate against right-hander Carlos Contreras in the top of the seventh.
Jonathan Lucroy and Adam Lind had walked around a Ryan Braun single to load the bases and Gomez took Contreras’ second pitch over the wall to left field for his sixth homer of the season and his first career grand slam.
Even as Milwaukee has been on a roll offensively, with 45 runs and 83 hits during its winning streak, Gomez was struggling, going just 2-for-19 as the Brewers were sweeping a four-game set at Philadelphia Monday through Thursday.
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“I wanted just to drive the ball and bring in more runs,” Gomez told MLB.com. “The at-before before that I hit it good, line drive to the middle, so I wanted to continue to follow that approach so he threw me some changeup, left it right there on the plate and I can pull it. I [didn’t] hit it that good, but I pull it perfectly to left field.”
The grand slam was the highlight of a 3-for-5 night for Gomez that included five RBI, his third career five-RBI game and first since Sept. 13, 2013, also against the Reds (36-42).
The offensive firepower is a pleasant switch from the Brewers’ struggles with the bats for much of the first three months of the season.
“It was a good night and it’s been contagious,” manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com. “Guys have gotten going, bunch of guys have gotten going so it’s good to see. It’s fun to watch.”
The Brewers scored twice in the first against Reds starter Michael Lorenzen (3-3). Gerardo Parra led off the game with his sixth home run of the year, a shot to right-center. Lucroy singled, went to third on a single by Braun and scored on a groundout by Adam Lind.
Aramis Ramirez led off the top of the second with his 10th homer of the season to put Milwaukee up 3-0.
In the fifth, Parra singled to lead off the inning and reliever Nate Adcock then threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt, allowing Parra to move up to second. Lucroy followed with a double to center.
With Lucroy at third and two outs, Gomez singled to center to make it a 5-0 game.
Up 9-0 in the eighth, the Brewers kept piling on. Pinch-hitter Hernan Perez singled and Parra walked to greet former Brewer Burke Badenhop and after Lucroy bounced into a double play, Braun doubled to right to plate Perez.
Against Ryan Mattheus in the ninth, Scooter Gennett bounced an RBI single into right field and Parra knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Cincinnati got its lone run in the ninth off right-hander Tyler Cravy, recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs earlier Friday. Eugenio Suarez knocked in a run with an RBI single after Jay Bruce had doubled and pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker singled.
Lucroy was also 3-for-5, raising his average to .256. and Braun went 3-for-5, extending his hitting streak to eight games. Braun is a torrid 16-for-33 with nine RBI during that stretch and is now hitting .277/.342/.498 for the season.
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He was at .250/.318/.468 when the streak began.
The series continues at 6:15 p.m. Central on the night of Independence Day, with right-hander Jimmy Nelson (5-8, 4.48 ERA) set to face right-hander Josh Smith (0-1, 5.63).
Nelson is 0-1 with a 5.89 ERA in five outings, three of them starts, against Cincinnati in his career, with 14 strikeouts in 18.1 innings. He’s allowed eight runs in 10.1 innings over two starts against the Reds this season.
He got the win his last time out, his second consecutive victory, working five innings and allowing four runs in a 7-5 win at Philadelphia on Monday.
Smith will be making his third start since being recalled June 23. He took the loss against the New York Mets at Citi Field on Sunday, allowing three runs, one earned, in five innings of a 7-2 defeat.
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