Eric Thames doesn’t give much thought to the way he wrecks the Reds
Derwin James Chargers Jersey , leaving everyone else to marvel.
Thames hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning Thursday night, and the Milwaukee Brewers slowed the Cincinnati Reds‘ best surge of the season with a 6-4 victory .
Thames has been the Reds’ biggest nemesis. He hit a record 10 homers against Cincinnati last year – the most by a Brewer against one team in a single season. Thames gave the Brewers a 5-4 lead when he homered in the seventh inning off reliever Amir Garrett (0-1).
Thames’ third home this season against the Reds was the turning point in a game that started badly for the Brewers and included a benches-clearing incident in the third inning when Cincinnati’s Joey Votto exchanged words with catcher Erik Kratz.
”I’m not really thinking about, `It’s the Reds, yeah I’m going to get some hits,’ or whatever,” Thames said. ”In this park, the ball will travel a little bit, so that’s nice. For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Royals, the Yankees or the Reds, I try to have the same approach.”
Thames is 3 of 3 in his career against the left-handed Garrett with three homers.
”Me and him
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Jesus Aguilar hit a two-run homer off Anthony DeSclafani, connecting for the third straight game. Eric Sogard added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Milwaukee beat the Reds for the sixth straight time and improved to 6-1 overall against Cincinnati this season, including 4-0 at Great American Ball Park.
Junior Guerra (4-5) gave up Jose Peraza’s second career leadoff homer and Jesse Winker’s two-run shot while getting his first victory since May 14. Corey Knebel pitched the ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances.
The last-place Reds were the hottest team in the NL Central heading into the game, winning nine of their last 10 games.
Votto was in the middle of a dispute for the second straight game.
The third inning opened with Votto thinking he’d drawn a walk on a 3-1 pitch, but plate umpire Roberto Ortiz called it a strike. When Votto returned to the batter’s box, he exchanged words with Kratz. Votto removed his batting helmet, and the benches and bullpens emptied.
Players milled briefly, many joking with one another. When play resumed, Votto flied out.
”It was just a little bit of a misunderstanding at the plate
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Votto was ejected in Atlanta on Wednesday by plate umpire Carlos Torres for arguing a called third strike, his eighth career ejection.
MILWAUKEE MOVES
The Brewers called up LH reliever Mike Zagurski from Triple-A Colorado Springs and optioned RH Adrian Houser. Zagurski last pitched in the majors in 2013 with the Pirates. He played in the Japan Central League in 2015-16.
THAMES’ STATS
Thames homered off a left-hander for the first time since June 6 last year against San Diego’s Ryan Buchter. Thames missed 41 games earlier this season with a torn ligament in his left thumb. His three homers off Garrett are his highest total off any pitcher. He has six homers in 34 career at-bats in GABP.
”We’ve had no answer for him,” interim Reds manager Jim Riggleman said.
GOING DEEP
Aguilar has homered in three consecutive games for the second time this season – he also did it from May 18-20. He recorded his eighth three-hit game this season, a career high.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: CF Christian Yelich left the game with a tight lower back after he grounded out in the first inning. He felt his back tighten a couple steps toward first base. … Travis Shaw was back at third base after missing two games with a sore right wrist. He took batting practice pregame and felt good enough to play, although the wrist is likely to bother him at times. He went 0 for 4.
Reds: Top prospect Nick Senzel today had surgery on his broken right index finger. Senzel hurt his finger Friday with Triple-A Louisville. There’s no estimate for the infielder’s return.
UP NEXT
Brewers: Chase Anderson (5-6) beat the Reds 7-6 at Great American Ball Park on May 1, allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings. He’s 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA in six career starts at Great American.
Reds: Sal Romano (4-7) has lost all of his four career starts against the Brewers, giving up 13 runs in 18 2/3 innings.
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With perhaps the most frustrating road trip of their season in the rearview mirror, the Minnesota Twins return home Thursday looking to get back on track in the opener of a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Target Field.
Minnesota went 1-8 on their I-94 excursion that began by dropping two of three to the Chicago White Sox and ended with sweeps by the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. As a result, the Twins now sit 13 games under .500 and 12 games behind American League Central-leading Cleveland, holding down third place in the division.
“I think we’re all frustrated,” manager Paul Molitor said after the Brewers hit three solo home runs in a 3-2 victory over the Twins at Miller Park on Wednesday. “You win one game and you’re on the road for 10 days
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“We’re creating some of our own problems. At the same time, we’re not catching a lot of breaks. We’ll get home, looking forward to that. Have a nice homestand before the break. We’ll try to get these guys ready for a series with Baltimore tomorrow.”
The Twins will turn to Aaron Slegers (0-0, 3.38 ERA) for his first start of the season in the hopes of turning things around.
He has made just one other major league appearance this season, allowing two runs over 5 1/3 innings of relief May 30 at Kansas City. He has a 5.66 ERA in five career outings, including three starts, in the big leagues overall. Slegers has never faced Baltimore.
Like the Twins, the Orioles come into the series looking to snap out of a slump. They have lost nine of their last 10 games, including two in a row to Philadelphia this week.
Manager Buck Showalter still has confidence his team can turn things around.
“There are some really good people in that locker room and I’d really like to see them get a return, but you can’t will it. You can’t just hope it,” said Showalter. “It’s got to be one pitch at a time. You can’t look at the big picture.”
Andrew Cashner (2-8
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Keeping the ball in the park has been a big reason for that recent run of success. Cashner had allowed 11 home runs through his first nine starts but only three over his last seven — and none his last time out when he held the Los Angeles Angels to a run on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four over six innings of work.
“That’s what I try to do every time I take the mound, just keep the team in the game and grind it out, no matter if it’s pretty or ugly,” Cashner told the Baltimore Sun. “Just try to get through the seventh. Maybe next time I’ll get through the seventh. I thought I got stronger as I went along. The breaking stuff was better, the offspeed was better. Something to build on as we go and keep moving forward.”
Cashner will be making his first career start at Target Field but is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA in two previous starts against the Twins, who tagged him for five runs (four earned) over five innings on March 31 in Baltimore.
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