Hunter Renfroe snaps out of September funk with huge night at the plate to help beat the Reds

CINCINNATI - Hunter Renfroe needed a game like Saturday's in the worst possible way.

Limping along with a .198 batting average and OPS of .582 in 21 September games coming in, the Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder hit a pair of two-run homers, collected four hits and drove in a season-high five runs to spark the offense in a 10-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.

It was the second huge individual performance in three games as Kolten Wong's three-homer outburst led the way in the series opener.

"I think we're going to have to take turns offensively doing it," said manager Craig Counsell. "Hunter was a huge part of the offense tonight and had a really, really big night. But it's going to take different guys every night, and we know that.

"That's what we've been getting."

Corbin Burnes bounced back from a rough last start as well, allowing a first-inning run then stiffening from there and facing the minimum from the second through the sixth as the Brewers won their fourth straight game.

And for the first time in a while, Milwaukee was able to gain some ground in the National League wild-card race. With the Philadelphia Phillies losing, the Brewers pulled to within 1⅓ games of the third spot while the San Diego Padres were winning big in a late game.

"I don't really worry about that too much," Renfroe said. "If we come in here one day and there's champagne on the ground, we'll know what happened. I don't really look forward to that. I just go out there and play baseball every day."

Burnes tied a season high with five runs allowed in 5⅔ innings in a loss to the New York Mets his last time out.

His first inning against the Reds resulted in a 1-0 deficit after a two-out walk was followed by consecutive singles.

Box score: Brewers 10, Reds 2

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Right-hander Graham Ashcraft, Burnes' counterpart, bent but didn't break through the first three innings as he was able to work around four Milwaukee singles thanks to a pair of double-play grounders and five ground-ball outs altogether.

He entered the game on the heels of an 11-hit, eight-run (three earned) performance in a 2⅔-inning rehab stint against the Brewers' Class AAA affiliate, Nashville, on Monday.

In the fourth, Ashcraft finally caved.

The big blow was Renfroe's first homer, a two-run shot that landed in the second deck in left that gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead. Then, after a two-out Andrew McCutchen double, Luis Urías was hit by a pitch and Omar Narváez and Tyrone Taylor followed with run-scoring singles.

"There was two outs after the homer with nobody on and we put together a really nice rally to add on two more runs," Counsell said. "That certainly was a big moment."

Burnes settled in after that initial inning, retiring 10 consecutive batters before Renfroe's second two-run shot — this one off Ashcraft's replacement Connor Overton in the fifth — upped Milwaukee's lead to 6-1.

The multi-homer game was Renfroe's third of the season but just his second since May 11, with that one also coming in Cincinnati. He now has 27 overall.

It was also his seventh homer at Great American Ball Park this season, the most by any non-Reds player.

Renfroe made it a five-RBI game with a single in the seventh, one of three run-scoring hits in the frame as the Brewers upped their lead to 9-1.

The five RBI were the most for Renfroe since last Aug. 24 when he was with the Boston Red Sox and matched what he'd done in September heading into Saturday, as did his two homers.

"It felt good," Renfroe said. "I've felt pretty good the last few days, been seeing the ball well. Hadn't had the results I wanted, but I was able to get some barrels today."

Currently putting the wraps on his seventh major-league season, Renfroe doesn't get rattled like he once did when the results aren't coming.

"The first few years of your career, it's kind of aggravating to be chasing hits and stuff like that, chasing results," he said. "But the older I get, it's kind of like, 'I'm seeing the ball well, I'm taking the pitches I need to take and it's eventually going to happen for me.

"I knew that going forward. And today I saw the ball well, got some barrels to it and was able to hit the ball (out)."

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Counsell brought Burnes back for the bottom of the seventh but after allowing a walk and two singles he quickly made way for Trevor Gott.

Burnes (11-8) allowed four hits, two runs (earned) and three walks with eight strikeouts in his 102-pitch appearance.

"They were swinging aggressively early," Burnes said. "I needed to do a better job of really getting around the zone and letting them get themselves out and getting ahead in the count.

"Obviously, the walks hurt me tonight. We had four ground-ball singles that all followed a walk. My goal as a starting pitcher is to not give up free passes and make them earn it, and tonight they scored some runs on stuff I gave them."

Rowdy Tellez led off the ninth with his team-leading 33rd homer against position player Alejo López to get the Brewers into double digits in the run column for the first time since July 27.

Tellez has gone deep seven times this season against the Reds.

The Brewers are in position to record their first four-game sweep at Cincinnati since Aug. 25-28, 2003, if they can beat left-hander Nick Lodolo on Sunday.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hunter Renfroe snaps out of September funk with huge night at plate