Brewers 3, Reds 1
Rookie Caleb Gindl homered for the second straight game and Marco Estrada allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings as visiting Milwaukee won the rubber match of the three-game series.
Estrada (6-4) had a season-high nine strikeouts with two walks and retired 15 in a row during one stretch, and Jim Henderson allowed a one-out solo homer by Joey Votto in the ninth before recording his 21st save. The Reds remained three games behind co-leaders Pittsburgh and St. Louis in the National League Central and seven ahead of Arizona for the second wild-card spot.
Gindl blasted a two-run homer in the second inning off Greg Reynolds (0-2), and the Brewers added an insurance run in the seventh, when Yuniesky Betancourt hit a leadoff single and scored on Jean Segura’s two-out base hit. Reynolds yielded two runs on five hits over six frames in his second major-league start since 2011.
Estrada held the Reds hitless after Shin-Soo Choo led off the first inning with a single and struck out six in a row at one point. The Reds were limited to five hits overall and finished their seven-game homestand with a 4-3 record.
Rookie Khris Davis doubled in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games for the Brewers, who improved to 48-0 when leading after eight innings. Milwaukee is the only team in the majors without a loss when ahead after eight frames.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Reynolds was promoted from Triple-A Louisville after scheduled starter Tony Cingrani landed on the disabled list with a strained lower back. … Votto homered for the second straight game and snapped Henderson’s streak of consecutive scoreless appearances at 14. …Milwaukee begins a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Tuesday, while Cincinnati heads to St. Louis on Monday as it starts a six-game road trip.