Milwaukee Brewers: 250 Words or Less: 5/31/11

The Cincinnati Curse is finally over.

The Milwaukee Brewers snapped a stretch of 6 straight losses in Cincinnati by beating the Reds 7-2 to take the middle game of the series. The Brewers hadn’t won at Great American Ballpark since late 2010. What a month of May it was for the Crew, who wasted the opening of the month with a 7-game losing streak but still finished with a 17-12 record overall.

Corey Hart had an excellent night for an offense badly needing it, collecting 4 RBIs off a hit and a 3-run home run. They struck big in the 3rd inning and held a solid lead the remainder of the way. Jonathan Lucroy hit his own home run, a bombed solo shot in the 6th.

Zack Greinke’s line looked good: 6 innings, 2 runs and 6 hits along with 6 strikeouts. Yet he battled and clawed through most of it, putting himself in too many jams that he had to then work out of. Marco Estrada and Kameron Loe each threw perfect innings and John Axford came in for a non-save situation to finish out the 9th.

Yuniesky Betancourt didn’t have a great offensive night, which fans are growing to expect. But his defensive game has gotten drastically better since he came to Milwaukee, and it might be the defensive effort that will define his season. The Reds’ game tonight was defined by their defense as they had 2 crucial errors that contributed to Milwaukee’s lead.

Shaun Marcum faces Mike Leake, the only other Red’s pitcher they beat this year, in the rubber match tomorrow evening.

 

 

Follow me on Twitter (@MilwaukeeBrian) and don’t forget to watch for the Brewers’ “A Simple Kind of Fan” each Tuesday, from Pocket Doppler’s Brew Town Boozer.

 

 

 

Tags: 250 Words, Cincinnati Reds, Corey Hart, John Axford, Jonathan Lucroy, Kameron Loe, Marco Estrada, Milwaukee Brewers, Shaun Marcum, Zack Greinke