MILWAUKEE -- A year ago, Adrian Houser looked like he was about to be the next great young pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers rotation.

Things haven’t quite gone as well since but Houser returned to that form Saturday night when he spun six innings of one-run ball to lead the Brewers to a 5-1 victory over the Reds at American Family Field.

While he didn't record a strikeout, Houser gave up just one hit and walked only two batters in his longest outing since going six against the Blue Jays on June 24 and earned a victory in consecutive decisions for the first time since May 5.

"That was a big-time performance,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It was much-needed.”

Counsell may have been underselling the situation just a bit because Houser’s effort helped the Brewers in myriad ways.

First, his six innings provided some much-needed relief for a bullpen that's still recovering from a doubleheader two days earlier and hasn't had a full day off in two weeks.

He also provided some badly needed stability for a starting rotation that has been decimated by injuries of late, but most importantly, it put the Brewers in a position to pick up a win they needed to keep pace in the race for a National League Wild Card spot. Their victory moved them three games behind the Padres, who lost to the Dodgers, for the final NL Wild Card spot.

"We’re going to need some big innings out of some guys and it’s going to take all of us,” said Houser, who became the first pitcher since 1990 to work at least six innings while allowing one hit or fewer and not recording a strikeout. “We’re out-getters and we’ve just got to go out there every time and go as long as we can -- especially us starters. Those are big innings if we can go six, seven every night; that helps the bullpen cover some more innings when we do need them to cover that and just keeps them fresher down the stretch. So it’s big and hopefully we can keep it up.”

Houser had spent much of the season trying to replicate the success he had in 2021 but was 4-8 with a 4.72 ERA when he was placed on the IL with a flexor strain on July 1. He returned to the rotation on Aug. 24 and was tagged for five runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Dodgers then worked two scoreless innings of relief against the Pirates.

He returned to a starting role last Monday against the Rockies and got into trouble quickly, allowing three first-inning runs but didn’t allow a baserunner over his next four innings, which provided a foundation heading into his start against Cincinnati.

“We needed that from him,” shortstop Willy Adames said. “He did an unbelievable job. Since the first inning in Colorado, he's just been amazing. That's what we saw from him last year. Hopefully he can continue to do that. We need that right now. If we're going to make the playoffs, we need everybody to step up and he did that in a big way today.”

Adames staked Houser to an early lead with a two-run home run in the first inning but that would be all Milwaukee could muster against former teammate Chase Anderson (0-3), who walked three and struck out five over four innings in his return to Milwaukee where he posted a 3.83 ERA from 2016-19.

The Brewers threatened in the fifth, loading the bases against Reiver Sanmartin, but came up empty when Fernando Cruz retired Hunter Renfroe on a fly ball to center. They finally got a little breathing room in the seventh when Tyrone Taylor's fly ball got past left fielder Jake Fraley for a triple and Christian Yelich sent Taylor home with an RBI single up the middle.

Milwaukee's bullpen did the rest.

Taylor Rogers and Matt Bush preserved the lead, combining to strike out five of six batters over their two innings. Devin Williams would have followed and attempted to pick up his 12th save of the season but his services weren’t needed after Andrew McCutchen’s two-out, two-run homer in the eighth pushed Milwaukee’s lead to four.

Instead, Brad Boxberger came on for the ninth and retired the side as the Brewers snapped a three-game losing streak against their NL Central rivals.

"We just pitched so well tonight,” Counsell said. “Pitching was the story of the night.”