CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) – Johnny Cueto kept his hopes of a 20-win season in play, and Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco hit back-to-back homers on Tuesday night, sending the Reds to a 3-1 victory that pushed the Milwaukee Brewers to the verge elimination from wild card contention.
Cueto (19-9) gave up Carlos Gomez’s homer over eight innings. He’ll pitch Cincinnati’s final game on Sunday against Pittsburgh at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds haven’t had a 20-game winner since left-hander Danny Jackson in 1988. The last Reds right-hander to win 20 games was Sammy Ellis in 1965.
The Reds got the better of a matchup between teams with huge second-half fades.
Milwaukee led the NL Central for 150 days, but fell apart at the end. Up by 6 ½ games on June 28, the Brewers have gone 29-45 and fallen far behind Pittsburgh and San Francisco in the wild card race.