Keon Broxton homered twice Womens Henrik Zetterberg Jersey , dashed home on a rundown and made a diving catch in the ninth inning. With the depleted Brewers needing a little help, the newest addition to the roster did it all.

Broxton drove in four runs Friday night, and Chase Anderson pitched two-hit ball for six innings, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to an 8-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Brewers won their seventh straight against the Reds, their best such streak against Cincinnati in franchise history. Milwaukee is 7-1 overall in the season series.

Broxton was called up three days earlier when Lorenzo Cain suffered a groin strain. He had an RBI single, a solo homer , and a two-run shot as the Brewers pulled away with five runs in the ninth inning.

Broxton also scored from third during a rundown play in the eighth inning, going head-first to beat the throw.

”Probably one of my best games ever, honestly,” Broxton said. ”With the way they’re doing, I just want to come in, fill a spot and keep it moving.”

The NL Central leaders improved to are 48-33 at the midpoint of their season. The Brewers were 42-39 last season, when they finished second to the Cubs.

”Look, we’ve earned this Gabriel Landeskog Jersey Kids ,” manager Craig Counsell said. ”We’ve had a successful first half of the season. We’ve got to keep backing it up.”

They suffered another setback when Ryan Braun came out of the game in the seventh inning with a stiff back, leaving the Brewers missing two regulars. Christian Yelich also was sidelined by a sore back. Braun missed six games last month with a back problem.

Counsell said Braun’s back has bothered him lately. The Brewers are considering whether he’ll need to go on the disabled list.

”He tried to play but it just was getting worse as the game went on,” Counsell said.

Broxton and Anderson pulled them through.

Anderson (6-6) completed his rough month with one of his best performances. The right-hander was 1-3 in five previous June starts. He limited the Reds to Tucker Barnhart’s single through the first five innings. Reliever Michael Lorenzen connected in the sixth inning for his second homer in a week and his fourth career.

Broxton singled home a run in the second inning and led off the fourth with his first homer of the season off Sal Romano (4-8), who has lost all of his five career starts against Milwaukee.

”Sal’s better than that,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. ”He faced 25 batters in five innings. That isn’t good enough. I don’t take much positive out of this game.”

In the eighth inning, Broxton walked, stole a base and made it safely home from third when the Reds initially caught him in a rundown, then turned to Orlando Arcia at second base. Broxton reversed course and scored.

”That was a wild one,” he said. ”High adrenalin, and it was fun.”

He completed his big night with a two-run shot in the ninth off Jackson Stephens for his third career multi-homer game.

BREWERS PARK?

Milwaukee has homered in each of its last 17 games at Great American Ball Park, hitting a total of 38. It’s the longest such streak by an opponent at GABP. Milwaukee has homered in each of its last five games overall, matching its longest streak of the season.

LORENZEN CONNECTION

Lorenzen has four homers in his last 23 plate appearances since 2016. He also homered on June 24 against the Cubs.

STREAK SNAPPED

Milwaukee’s Jesus Aguilar singled twice but ended his streak of three straight games with a homer. He was trying to become the first Brewer to connect in four straight since Eric Thames did it last June. In his last 13 games, Aguilar is batting .432 with three doubles, eight homers and 17 RBIs.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: Yellich’s back tightened as he ran to first base in the series opener on Thursday. Counsell said after the game that it was improving with treatment.

Reds: Homer Bailey threw 100 pitches in his third minor league rehab appearance on Thursday night without physical problem Jakob Silfverberg Jersey , but had trouble controlling his fastball, Riggleman said. Bailey has been sidelined since June 2 with a sore right knee. He’s 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA.

UP NEXT

Brewers: Jhoulys Chacin (6-3) is 0-2 with a 4.67 ERA in five career appearances at Great American Ball Park.

Reds: Rookie Tyler Mahle (6-6) is undefeated in five June starts, going 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA.

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On a night the slumping Giants broke out of their offensive funk and ended a four-game losing streak, second baseman Joe Panik was forced out with a groin strain and is likely headed to the disabled list.

Such is life for manager Bruce Bochy and his beleaguered ballclub this season.

Andrew McCutchen hit an RBI single to drive in Hunter Pence from second base in the seventh inning and the Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Friday night.

But San Francisco’s win was tempered by the loss of Panik, who was injured while running from first to third on Gorkys Hernandez’s double in the fourth.

”Bad break there,” Bochy said. ”We are going to get an MRI tomorrow, but it looks like he’s headed to the DL. It’s hard to say how long. He did a pretty good job on it.”

Panik, a Gold Glove winner in 2016, missed 31 games this season with a sprained left thumb. His latest injury had Bochy and his staff scrambling to make roster moves after the game. Rookie Alen Hanson is the likely replacement until Panik returns.

”It’s a DL situation, so we’ll huddle up here and talk about what move we’re going to make,” Bochy said.

Pence reached on a pinch-hit single off John Brebbia (1-2) leading off the seventh. After Hanson sacrificed Pence to second and Posey was intentionally walked, McCutchen pushed a 2-2 pitch into left field to drive in the go-ahead run.

Pablo Sandoval homered, Buster Posey singled twice and Brandon Crawford scored on a wild pitch to help the Giants’ slumping offense break out.

Reyes Moronta (5-1) retired one batter to earn the win. Will Smith pitched the ninth for his third save.

Kolton Wong had two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals.

St. Louis was limited to five hits after setting a season-high with 18 on Friday.

”There’s going to be some nights when they’re going to shut you down,” manager Mike Matheny said. ”You have to figure out how to manufacture. You’re not going to be able to score 11 every night.”

It was a back-and-forth game most of the night. After Wong’s RBI double in the second gave the Cardinals an early lead Authentic Saquon Barkley Jersey , the Giants tied it in the bottom of the inning without a hit. Crawford and Sandoval walked. Crawford took third on a flyout and scored on a wild pitch.

DAD’S HERE

Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez pitched effectively into the sixth inning, but wasn’t even the most popular member of his family at the ballpark. His father, Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, sat near San Francisco’s dugout and received a huge ovation from the crowd as highlights of the former catcher’s career played on the giant scoreboard in center field.

”I didn’t even notice until they told me,” the younger Rodriguez said of the videos of his father.

DEJONG RETURNS

Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong was activated from the disabled list after missing 45 games with a fracture in his left hand. DeJong had not missed a game this season before getting hurt.

”I was kind of anxious before the game just to get out there and start playing because I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while,” said DeJong, who went 1 for 3 with two runs scored.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: To make room for DeJong, LHP Austin Gomber was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.

Giants: 3B Evan Longoria could begin swinging off a tee and taking grounders by the end of the weekend, less than three weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone in his left hand. Longoria is on pace to rejoin the team in the first week of August.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez (5-4, 3.20 ERA) goes for his third consecutive win Saturday. Martinez pitched two-hit ball over nine innings, but left with a no-decision the last time he faced the Giants on May 20, 2017. RHP Jeff Samardzija (1-4, 6.56) will come off the disabled list to pitch for San Francisco in his first start since May 29.

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