And just like that, the Milwaukee Brewers’ pitching is back on track.
Starter Nestor Cortes threw six strong innings and three relievers followed to maintain what ended up being the staff’s second shutout effort in three games, a 1-0 squeaker over the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field on Thursday night.
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Cortes scattered one hit and two walks with six strikeouts over 86 pitches, a huge rebound from his nightmarish debut against his former team, the New York Yankees, a week earlier.
BOX SCORE: Brewers 1, Reds 0
Elvis Peguero, Bryan Hudson and Joel Payamps followed, with the quartet limiting Cincinnati to just two hits and three walks for the game.
Sal Frelick’s two-out, run-scoring single in the fourth inning off Nick Lodolo plated the game’s only run.
Brewers reliever Joel Payamps (left) and catcher William Contreras celebrate a 1-0 win over the Reds on Thursday night at American Family Field.
Quite the bounceback for Nestor Cortes
Beginning with a strikeout of Elly De La Cruz to end the Cincinnati third, Cortes (1-1) retired 10 consecutive batters to complete the sixth.
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Manager Pat Murphy called it a night for him at that point and replaced him with Peguero, with the final line much more in line with what the Brewers were expecting when they acquired him from the New York Yankees along with Caleb Durbin in exchange for Devin Williams in the offseason.
Peguero had to labor a bit after allowing a one-out single and walk, but ultimately got Spencer Steer and Santiago Espinal to fly out to center to maintain the shutout.
Hudson worked around a two-out error in the eighth, then Joel Payamps filled in for Trevor Megill and tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for the Brewers’ first save of the season.
Brewers break through first
A pitcher’s duel broke out early, with Cortes holding the Reds scoreless over the first four frames and Lodolo not even allowing a baserunner in three perfect innings.
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Lodolo’s luck ran out in the fourth when Jackson Chourio hammered a ground-rule double to left-center and two batters later William Contreras reached when Lodolo dropped the feed from Christian Encarnacion-Strand on what should have been an easy out at first.
Following a Rhys Hoskins flyout, Frelick muscled a single to right to score Frelick to break up the scoreless tie.
Milwaukee couldn’t add to its advantage, but it did force Lodolo to throw 29 pitches to get out of the inning after he needed only 27 to navigate the first three.
What time is the Brewers game on today?
Time: 6:40 p.m.
What channel is the Brewers game on tonight? TV, stream
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Network
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Stream: Streaming is available on the FanDuel Sports Wisconsin app.
Brewers lineup
Reds lineup
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. Reds, Friday 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee TBA vs. Cincinnati RHP Nick Martinez (0-1, 6.00). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – 620 AM WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Reds, Saturday 6:10 p.m: Milwaukee RHP Elvin Rodríguez (0-1, 9.00) vs. Cincinnati RHP Brady Singer (1-0, 0.00). TV – FanDuel Sports Extra/FS1. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Reds, Sunday 1:10 p.m: Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (0-0, 0.00) vs. Cincinnati RHP Carson Spiers (0-1, 1.50). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – 620 AM WTMJ.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nestor Cortes bounces back, Brewers beat Reds for third straight win
