Brewers 1 - 3 Reds
Final
  for this game

Power, pitching send Reds past Brewers

Sep 24, 2014 - 6:29 AM Cincinnati, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco hit back- to-back homers to back eight solid frames from Johnny Cueto, as Cincinnati picked up a 3-1 win over Milwaukee in the opener of a three-game series.

Jason Bourgeois knocked in a key late run for the Reds, who have won two in a row after losing six straight.

Cueto (19-9) struck out seven while yielding a run on four hits. Aroldis Chapman closed the door in the ninth for his 34th save.

"That's our ace out there," Mesoraco said of Cueto. "When he's out there we feel like we can win."

Aramis Ramirez collected two hits and Carlos Gomez added a solo homer for the Brewers, who have dropped five of their last six. They remained five games behind San Francisco for the second NL wild-card spot after the Giants lost in Los Angeles to the Dodgers.

Mike Fiers (6-4) lasted just five innings and gave up two runs on four hits.

"We're trying to get this thing done and win some games and every night it just feels like that same thing," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said.

Cueto finished the seventh up by a run thanks to a double-play grounder, and stranded a runner on second by retiring Gerardo Parra on a foul out near third. He exited after turning away the Brewers in order in the eighth.

Cincinnati provided an insurance run in the bottom half, as Brayan Pena hit a pinch double, his pinch-runner Yorman Rodriguez moved up on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Bourgeois single.

Chapman made it interesting in the ninth, hitting Gomez to start and walking Jonathan Lucroy with one out. Gomez swiped third as Ramirez struck out, then Ryan Braun fanned swinging to end the contest.

Frazier's blast to dead-center with two down in the first staked the Reds to an early lead and Mesoraco followed with a shot to left which doubled the hosts' edge.

Cueto held up his end until a Gomez solo blast with two away in the sixth cut the visitors' deficit to 2-1.

Game Notes

Chapman extended his scoreless streak to 22 innings at home, while converting his 18th straight save opportunity ... Mesoraco's 25 homers as a backstop are the most for a Reds catcher since Johnny Bench has 24 in 1980 ... Fiers has allowed three or fewer earned runs over each of his 13 appearances (nine starts) this season.






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