Blake Perkins hit a grand slam for his first major league home run as the visiting Milwaukee Brewers slugged their way to 10-8 victory Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds.
Milwaukee’s offense came alive early, scoring nine runs in the first three innings, including five in the third. Perkins, batting in the No. 9 spot, finished 2-for-4 with five RBIs.
The Brewers did all of their damage off of Reds starter Graham Ashcraft (3-4), who have up 10 runs on nine hits in four innings with four walks and two strikeouts.
Both teams scored in the opening inning with Milwaukee’s Rowdy Tellez and Cincinnati’s Spencer Steer driving in runs with singles. The Brewers took over from there.
Perkins and Christian Yelich each drove in runs with singles in the second inning, and Owen Miller had an RBI groundout, to put Milwaukee up 4-1. In the third, Joey Weimer walked with the bases loaded for a run before Perkins cleared the bases with his grand slam to right field for a 9-1 advantage.
Jake Fraley hit a home run for the Reds in the third before the Brewers’ William Contreras went deep in the fourth for a 10-3 Milwaukee lead. Fraley went 3-for-4 with a walk.
The Reds cut the deficit to 10-6 in the sixth when Jonathan India hit a two-run single off of Brewers reliever Trevor Megill, who allowed three runs and walked three after Colin Rea (3-3) went five innings, giving up three runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
The Brewers’ bullpen settled down until the ninth. Steer drove in a run for the Reds with a single off of Jake Cousins with no outs. Cousins allowed a walk and consecutive hits before Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell called on closer Devin Williams.
Williams, who entered 9-for-9 in save opportunities with a 0.48 ERA, struck out Tyler Stephenson but walked consecutive hitters to bring in a run for the Reds.
Williams eventually struck out Kevin Newman and Matt McLain with the bases loaded to pick up his 10th save.
–Field Level Media
