Despite loss, Crew's pitching impresses foe

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers didn’t get the sweep, but they did get quite an endorsement from longtime foe Joey Votto before the Reds escaped with a 5-1 win in Thursday afternoon’s season series finale at American Family Field.

“I’m going to say it out loud,” Votto said in a morning appearance on MLB Network. “Personally, I think this is the best group of pitchers I’ve faced in my career. I was a part of the team that faced the 2010 Phillies with the late Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. On the whole, the entire collection of [Brewers] pitchers, this has been the toughest matchup I’ve ever come across in my career.

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“Their bullpen is outstanding. Their starting pitching is dominant. This is a fantastic team. But that doesn’t mean we take a back seat to them. We are still looking to win the division. There is a lot of season left and we’ve got our eyes set on that.”

The Brewers (78-50) lead the Reds (70-59) by 8 1/2 games in the National League Central standings after taking two of three games in the series and 10 of the teams’ 19 regular-season matchups this season. Milwaukee has won each of its past five series and 10 of 12 series since the All-Star break.

The Milwaukee pitching staff that has so impressed Votto this season took a bit of a hit in Thursday’s finale when left-hander Brett Anderson’s effective outing was cut short by the latest of his series of lower-body injuries. Anderson ambled off the mound to field a Tyler Naquin dribbler in the fifth inning, and he felt tightness in his right hip that forced him out of the game in favor of Hunter Strickland, who got two outs before surrendering a three-run home run to NL Rookie of the Year hopeful Jonathan India for a 4-0 Cincinnati lead.

Even after allowing five runs in the last of 19 scheduled meetings in 2021, Brewers pitchers posted a 3.35 ERA against the Reds, with 200 strikeouts in 172 innings. They held Votto and his teammates to a .208 average.

“This is the team in second place," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "We added another game to the lead. That’s, I think, successful.”

Anderson’s exit was one of many early departures for the Brewers during a homestand that included series wins against the Nationals and Reds. Tyrone Taylor (right oblique) and Eduardo Escobar (right hamstring) landed on the 10-day injured list during the homestand, and Willy Adames (left quadriceps) missed all but the very first inning of the Reds series with what the club considers a minor injury.

The Brewers hope to get healthier again on the road. Adames should be back in action in the team’s next series at Minnesota, and Escobar is eligible to come off the IL on the final day of the subsequent four-game series at San Francisco. He might need a few days beyond that, according to club officials.

“We’re in good shape,” Counsell said. “We just took two out of three again. We won another series. The consistent play continues. Challenges, we’re going to face them. You don’t plan on challenges, but you know they’re coming. The injury thing is one little one.”

The timing of Anderson’s injury was unfortunate because he was in rhythm before it happened. Anderson limited the Reds to one run in the first inning and then held them to no more into the fifth before feeling discomfort chasing Naquin’s bouncer.

That was the opening the Reds needed. They cashed in on India’s 17th home run.

"Kind of tweaked my leg/hamstring/hip/groin area just being a non-athlete,” Anderson said. “It’s kind of frustrating/embarrassing. But it is what it is."

He’ll be evaluated on Friday.

“I think if I would have continued, it might have gotten a little better. But the risk-reward wasn’t there, and it might have gotten worse,” Anderson said. “I think it’s just a tweak. But it’s frustrating. The last handful of starts, I feel like I’ve pitched well enough to keep us in the game but also bad enough not to win the game. Tip your cap to [the Nationals’ Patrick] Corbin last start; tip your cap to Sonny [Gray] today. He was really good.”

Gray, after going 0-1 with a 5.27 ERA in three previous starts against the Brewers, held them scoreless on three hits and two walks over six innings. Milwaukee's best chance came when it loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth for slugger Rowdy Tellez, who grounded out to first base as part of an 0-for-4 afternoon and a 2-for-21 homestand.

“We won the series; we’ll always take that,” Anderson said. “It’s just frustrating being the weak link here both times. I’m one pitch away or one out away from feeling pretty good about an outing. It just hasn’t happened these last couple times.”