Friedl’s leaping catch saves Reds’ win

Published 3:02 am Thursday, June 5, 2025


Cincinnati Reds’ TJ Friedl catches a fly ball at the wall to end the game in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

CINCINNATI (AP) — TJ Friedl made a leaping catch in center field for the final out to rob pinch-hitter Jake Bauers of a tying home run, and the Cincinnati Reds rallied for a 4-2 victory that snapped the Milwaukee Brewers’ eight-game winning streak Tuesday night.

Tyler Stephenson homered for Cincinnati, and pinch-hitter Gavin Lux drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. Will Benson also went deep as the Reds stopped a three-game skid.

Sal Frelick homered and Christian Yelich had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 10 games for Milwaukee.

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Cincinnati trailed 2-0 before breaking through against starter Freddy Peralta (5-4) in the fourth. Peralta allowed only one hit and struck six of the first 11 batters he faced before Elly De La Cruz doubled off the left-field wall. Stephenson followed with a two-run homer to right on a 96.6 mph fastball from Peralta.

Grant Ashcraft (4-4) got the win and Emilio Pagan earned his 15th save.

Yelich lined an RBI single in the first to get Milwaukee on the board. Frelick’s solo shot off Reds starter Hunter Greene in the fourth made it 2-0. It was Frelick’s fifth homer of the season and it marked the first time he had gone deep in 13 games.

Key moment

Benson gave the Reds some insurance with a homer to left-center in the eighth. It was the first time the outfielder had gone deep since May 18 against Cleveland, which was part of a four-game run in which he had five homers.

Key stat

Four of Stephenson’s five home runs have come in the past eight games.

Up next

The teams play the series finale Wednesday afternoon. LHP Andrew Abbott (5-0, 1.51 ERA) goes for Cincinnati, while Milwaukee had not determined a starter. Right-hander Quinn Priester is expected to get the bulk of the innings.

Reds 4, Brewers 2

Milwaukee Cincinnati
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Turang 2b 3 1 1 0 Friedl cf 4 0 1 0
Chourio cf 4 0 0 0 Lux dh 2 0 0 0
Yelich dh 4 0 2 1 Joe ph-dh 0 0 0 1
Contreras c 4 0 0 0 De La Cruz ss 2 1 1 0
Frelick rf 4 1 1 1 Stephenson c 4 1 1 2
Hoskins 1b 4 0 1 0 Steer 1b 4 0 2 0
Collins lf 3 0 0 0 Benson lf 4 1 1 1
Durbin 3b 3 0 0 0 Espinal 3b 4 0 1 0
Ortiz ss 3 0 0 0 Fraley rf 2 1 0 0
Bauers ph 1 0 0 0 McLain 2b 4 0 1 0
Totals 33 2 5 2 Totals 30 4 8 4

Milwaukee 100 100 000 = 2
Cincinnati 000 200 11x = 4

E–De La Cruz (10). DP–Milwaukee 1, Cincinnati 0. LOB–Milwaukee 7, Cincinnati 8. 2B–Turang (7), De La Cruz (11), Steer (10), McLain (5). HR–Frelick (4), Stephenson (5), Benson (6). SF–Joe (1).

IP H R ER BB SO
Milwaukee
Peralta L,5-4 6 7 3 3 3 9
Zastryzny 2-3 0 0 0 1 0
Anderson 1 1-3 1 1 1 1 1
Cincinnati
Greene 5 5 2 2 3 7
Barlow 1 0 0 0 0 0
Ashcraft W,4-4 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 1
Santillan H,13 2-3 0 0 0 0 0
Pagán S,15-17 1 0 0 0 0 1

Peralta pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

Umpires–Home, Mark Ripperger; First, Vic Carapazza; Second, Nic Lentz; Third, Nick Mahrley.

T–2:24. A–25,749 (43,891).