Brewers' bats keep rolling as Civale deals, momentum grows

MILWAUKEE – On the road or at home, the Brewers’ red-hot offense continues to roll.

Coming off an epic three-game sweep of the Braves in Atlanta during which Milwaukee scored 34 runs and tallied 52 hits, the Brewers returned to American Family Field on Friday and immediately picked up right where they left off.

The Brewers jumped in front early, scoring eight runs on seven hits over the first three innings, to cruise past the Reds 8-3.

Willy Adames and Brice Turang both went deep, while Rhys Hoskins extended his hitting streak to 13 games, tying a career high set with the Phillies in August 2017. They set the pace for the NL Central leaders, who improved to 66-49 while opening a 10-game homestand, the team’s longest since September 2021.

“We were taking good at-bats before. We were just missing that big hit,” Adames said. “In Atlanta, we just did it and carried on the momentum and brought it here. Hopefully, we can continue to do that. It’s so much fun.”

Adames’ three-run home run with two outs off Carson Spiers (4-4) gave the Brewers a first-inning lead. It was Adames’ ninth three-run homer of the season, which leads the Major Leagues and set a new franchise record. He has 21 homers overall.

“I feel like we’ve been doing a good job all year. Obviously, we had some stretches where we didn’t execute,” Adames said. “In August, that’s when things get hot to go to the postseason and that’s what we want. I feel like we are going in the right direction.”

The offense continued to roll in the second, adding a run on Joey Ortiz’s double, which allowed Jake Bauers to score from first. Turang followed with a two-run homer, his seventh of the season and first since a grand slam on June 30, to give the Brewers a 6-0 lead.

The Brewers didn’t stop there, adding two more in the third, the first on Sal Frelick’s run-scoring triple past a diving TJ Friedl in center field. Hoskins’ single under the glove of Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz plated the second run of the frame.

“The coaching staff is really trying to lock these guys in to understand what their strengths are,” manager Pat Murphy said.

The offense eventually ran out of gas, failing to collect a hit over the final five innings, but the early-game outburst set the tone for the victory.

“It’s tough to play those games when you’re ahead by a lot,” Murphy said. “It’s tough when you have a 162 game schedule and you have so many young players. I’m not making excuses for my team. It’s a good lesson to learn.”

While the Brewers hitters took care of business at the plate, Aaron Civale (3-8), making his sixth start for Milwaukee since being acquired from the Rays to bolster an injury-plagued rotation, handled things on the mound.

“He was really good. He threw the ball at the bottom of the zone when he needed to. He was all over the strike zone,” Murphy said. “He really pitched tonight. We’re excited he’s on our club. We’re not giving up on him, regardless of whether he pitched well tonight or not.”

Civale, who has struggled much of the season but has fared much better at home than on the road since joining the Brewers following the July 3 trade, was sharp throughout most of Friday’s outing, limiting the Reds to five hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings.

“My goal out there is just to compete,” Civale said. “They jumped early on the offensive side, and I was just trying to keep it where it was. I think the aggressiveness [with pitches] was there from the beginning of the game.”

Civale credited catcher William Contreras for leading him through the outing.

“William is unreal back there. Just trusting what he’s doing,” he said.

The win was Civale’s first since April 9, when he was with the Rays.

“We’ve been working on some little things,” he said. “I’m not going to go into too much detail. I’m just trying to correct some things. Some of it’s usage, some of it’s mechanical and some of it’s just mentality. It’s always a work in progress.”

Civale spoke of how important the support from his teammates and coaches has been as he works to contribute to the Brewers’ playoff push.

“This is my sixth season in the big leagues. I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “The support in the clubhouse has been great here. I’m just trying to maintain a level head and move forward every time.”