Brewers 7, Reds 2: Lengthy rain delay doesn't deter Milwaukee

CINCINNATI – The Milwaukee Brewers didn’t let a lengthy delay knock them off track Wednesday night.

Persistent rains in Cincinnati pushed the first pitch back 1 hour 50 minutes, but some early offense and a successful return to the rotation by Wade Miley paved the way to a 7-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.

"It was fun," Miley said of the delay. "We were having a good time. Played some chess, played some checkers, played some dominos. Kind of covered everything."

Christian Yelich and Blake Perkins homered while Yelich, Jackson Chourio and William Contreras each drove in a pair of runs as Milwaukee continued to produce at the plate.

Through the first three games of the series the Brewers have amassed 24 runs and 31 hits.

Miley, meanwhile, threw 52 pitches over four innings and limited the Reds to one hit, one run and two walks while not registering a strikeout in his return from the injured list.

He also hit a batter.

Bryse Wilson (1-0), Hoby Milner and JB Bukauskas combined to finish the game behind Miley.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 7, Reds 2

Blake Perkins stays hot

With Yelich starting at designated hitter and Sal Frelick playing left, Perkins got a second straight start in center and he again repaid Pat Murphy's confidence in him by homering to right-center in the sixth to give Milwaukee a 7-2 lead.

Perkins had three hits and three RBI in Tuesday's win.

Wade Miley calls it a night

Miley was a batter away from four perfect innings when he walked Christian Encarnacion-Strand and then nicked Jeimer Candelario with a pitch. Stuart Fairchild followed with a single to center to drive in the run, but a nice cutoff by Jake Bauers led to an easy out at third to halt Cincinnati's budding rally there.

After four innings and 52 pitches, Miley was pulled in favor of Wilson. Miley allowed one hit, one run and two walks and didn't strike out a batter.

"I think you've got to look at his future and what's best for him, even though he's approaching 50," joked manager Pat Murphy. "It was a huge lift. Just his tempo and the way he controlled the game early gave us breathing room. That’s another thing you can’t see in the box score.”

Said Miley: "I felt fine. Probably the smart thing to do, come out right there. I probably could have stayed in but was probably the best for us. I was just excited to get back out there and compete."

Wilson allowed a leadoff homer by Elly De La Cruz in the fifth inning that made it 6-2 but sailed from there and earned the victory following three effective innings.

"We knew that Wade was a little short today so for me to go out and be able to cover the three was nice," Wilson said. "It helps when the offense puts up seven and gives us a little cushion. I'm kind of at a point right now where the unexecuted pitches are getting hit over the fence, but other than that everything feels great."

Milwaukee pads its lead

Reds starter Hunter Greene opened the fourth inning by hitting a batter, this time Perkins. Perkins stole second base, went to third on a Joey Ortiz single and scored on a Jackson Chourio sacrifice fly.

The Brewers have also been playing some great defense behind Miley, with Bauers and Ortiz both making standout plays on sharp grounders in the third.

"No secret the bat's not where we want it to be right now, but I have full confidence it'll get there," said Bauers, who is hitting just .154 thus far but still been positively affecting the team with his glove. "But as far as defense goes I take pride in being out there. I take pride in being able to help out guys when they have a tough play and the throw comes up a little short.

"I'm happy to be over there and I'm happy to do it."

Three pitches, three swings, three runs

Greene hit Bauers to open the second. Then with two outs, Brice Turang, Chourio and William Contreras each singled on consecutive pitches to plate three more runs and up Milwaukee's lead to 5-0.

Christian Yelich stays red-hot

After a delay of 1 hour 50 minutes, Chourio drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a home run to right by Yelich.

It was Yelich's fifth homer of the season already; compare that to 2023, when he didn't hit his fifth until his 38th game. Yelich's homer was also his 22nd against the Reds since 2018, tying him with Ian Happ over that span for the most in baseball.

"He's had good success against Hunter," Murphy said. "I felt like him hitting that ball out of the ballpark really gave us the lift we needed to get started. Then we kind of just kept chipping away and adding on. The guys at the bottom helped us a bunch."

Brewers schedule

Brewers at Reds, 12:10 p.m. Thursday. Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta (1-0, 3.09) vs. Cincinnati RHP Nick Martinez (0-0, 7.20). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers at Orioles, 6:05 p.m. Friday. Milwaukee LHP DL Hall (0-1, 4.82) vs. Baltimore TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Apple TV+. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers at Orioles, 3:05 p.m. Saturday. Milwaukee RHP Colin Rea (2-0, 1.64) vs. Baltimore TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers 7, Reds 2: Lengthy rain delay doesn't deter Milwaukee