Cincinnati Reds lose to Milwaukee Brewers in final meeting, finish season series 3-10

MILWAUKEE — Now the Cincinnati Reds need help.

Whether any of that comes at Tuesday’s trade deadline, their 3-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday in their final meeting of the season with the NL Central leader means they have no more direct shots left at the Brewers to make up the 1 1/2-game deficit they face.

With 58 games left in the season, that doesn't figure to be as much a decisive factor in the division race as it is simply strange.

If the two teams finish 1-2 in the division, it'll mark the first time in the 54-year division era that the top two teams in a division were done playing one another this early in the season.

“That falls into the category of ‘out of our control,’ “ Reds manager David Bell said. "I understand the importance of playing a divisional opponent that you're battling. But it's pretty simple. We have a lot of games that are going to be against other teams that are going to be very important, and that'll be our focus.

The potentially decisive part is what's already happened between the Reds and Brewers.

David Bell: Is an extension on the horizon for Cincinnati Reds manager?

'I'm human': Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India takes 'mental day' to handle rumors

The Reds finished 3-10 this season against the Brewers, including six losses in the last seven games – four of them by shutout (accounting for half the times the Reds have been shut out this season). The Reds didn't win any of the four series.

“We know we’re that close,” said Ben Lively, who may have turned in his best start of the season Wednesday, pitching two outs deep into the seventh. “We’re going to keep going. … We know we’re right there. We’re just staying positive and going to keep working.”

Lively took a five-hit shutout one out deep into that seventh inning before Abraham Toro's single and Tyrone Taylor's home run to left on back-to-back pitches.

Brewers starter Freddy Peralta (7-8) has made the Reds his favorite punchout bags in two starts the past two weeks – despite just one win and a 6.23 ERA against everyone else since the middle of May.

Peralta matched his career high with 13 strikeouts in six scoreless innings – giving him 19 in 12 scoreless innings across two starts against the Reds since the All-Star break, allowing just four hits combined in the two games.

Peralta's dominance spurred Lively, the Reds right-hander said.

"That’s when you get those pitching battles," Lively said. "Everyone wants homers and hits now. But when we have those games going, I’m like, 'This is the mound time.' It’s pretty cool. It gets me going into another gear."

The Reds struck out five more times against the Brewers bullpen, matching their season high with 18, last done in the first game out of the break, against the Brewers and ace Corbin Burnes.

"It was great pitching, really by both sides," Bell said. "In a lot of ways that goes for the whole season series against this team. Today Peralta was excellent; we know that. We just weren't able to make the adjustment.

"We've got a long way to go," he added. "There's a lot that we're confident about the way we're playing. Today we struck out a lot. That hasn't been our issue. We feel really good about our offense and our ability to score runs in a lot of different ways. We'll continue to work and try to find ways to get better but also be confident and take the into the final two months."

Two of the four hits against Peralta Wednesday were doubles by Jonathan India leading off the fifth and by TJ Friedl with one out in the sixth. Both wound up stranded at third.

They were the only Reds to reach scoring position against Peralta on a day he didn’t walk a batter and was lifted despite a low pitch count in large part because the Brewers had a rested bullpen with an off day scheduled Thursday.

The way Lively matched Peralta with zeroes through six underscored his contribution to the Reds rotation’s surge since the All-Star break.

As Tuesday’s trade deadline fast approaches with the front office on the lookout for pitching help, the long-struggling rotation has produced a 2.95 group ERA since the All-Star break in 13 games.

That’s the No. 3 rotation ERA in the majors since the break, behind only the Cleveland Guardians and the dastardly Brewers.

Lively has a 3.52 ERA in that stretch – 3.00 in four starts since returning from a pec injury – lowering his season ERA to 3.76 in 11 starts.

That’s second on the staff to Andrew Abbott (1.90) among any Red with more than two starts.

And Wednesday’s quality start was the rotation’s eighth since the break.

“We’ve known our guys that we’ve had in the rotation were capable of this,” Bell said. “We lost a couple of starters early, so we had guys have to step in and took a little bit of time to really settle in as a rotation. But they’re all pitching well now.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds finish 3-10 vs. Milwaukee Brewers in 2023 MLB season