Brewers rally falls short in 2-1 loss

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Joey Votto's RBI double broke a scoreless tie in the ninth, and the Cincinnati Reds held on to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Wednesday.

Drew Stubbs singled off Brewers closer John Axford with two outs, and Votto lined a ball over the glove of second baseman Rickie Weeks to score Stubbs from first. Brandon Phillips then hit a bloop single, driving in Votto for a 2-0 lead.

Ryan Braun homered off Sean Marshall in the bottom of the ninth, his 10th of the season, to cut the lead to 2-1. Marshall allowed a pair of two-out singles to Jonathan Lucroy and Norichika Aoki and was replaced by Logan Ondrusek, who walked George Kottaras to load the bases.

Ondrusek got Travis Ishikawa to pop out, earning his first save.

It was the 1,500th major league victory for Reds manager Dusty Baker. Axford (0-2) took the loss.

The Reds won two out of three games from the struggling Brewers.

Cincinnati's ninth-inning fireworks came after an impressive pitchers' duel between the Brewers' Zack Greinke and the Reds' Johnny Cueto.

Greinke pitched eight scoreless innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the inning. He gave up two hits with no walks and had a season-high 11 strikeouts - his 15th career double-digit strikeout game.

Coming into Wednesday's game, Greinke was 13-0 in 18 starts as a Brewer at Miller Park - making him the sixth player since 1900 to win each of his first 13 home decisions with a team. The Brewers were 18-0 in games Greinke started at home, the third-longest such streak for a pitcher in history.

Cueto held the Brewers scoreless through seven innings before reliever Aroldis Chapman came in for the eighth. Cueto gave up five hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Chapman (3-0) took the win.

Cueto came into Wednesday's game on an early-season hot streak, having given up only six earned runs in six outings this year. He was coming off of a complete-game victory at Pittsburgh.

Cueto got out of trouble in the third, loading the bases with two outs on a single by Nyjer Morgan, a walk to Weeks and an infield hit by Braun. Cueto then got Aramis Ramirez to ground out and end the inning.

After retiring the first 10 batters he faced, Greinke allowed a double to Stubbs in the fourth. Votto popped out and Stubbs stole third, but Greinke struck out Phillips to end the inning.

Stubbs' double was the only hit Greinke gave up through the first six innings.

Cueto continued to cruise as well. Braun and Ramirez each came close to home runs in the sixth but flew out at the warning track in right field in back-to-back at-bats.

Cueto didn't allow a Brewers baserunner in the fourth, fifth or sixth innings, then gave up a two-out double to Taylor Green in the seventh before getting Cesar Izturis to ground out and end the inning.
    
Greinke struck out the side in the eighth, with the game still scoreless.

Notes: Braun was in the lineup despite aggravating a nagging Achilles injury Tuesday night. ... Both teams are off Thursday. Milwaukee LHP Randy Wolf (2-3, 6.68 ERA) faces Chicago Cubs RHP Matt Garza (2-1, 2.67) at Miller Park on Friday, while Cincinnati RHP Mike Leake (0-4, 5.97) faces Washington LHP Gio Gonzalez (3-1, 1.72) in Cincinnati on Friday. ... Wednesday's attendance was 27,090.