Rhys Hoskins hit a 405-foot home run in the eighth inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night. This win marked the Brewers’ fifth straight victory and their ninth consecutive series win over the Reds.
Hoskins’ 20th home run came off a 97 mph fastball from reliever Tony Santillan (0-1), extending his career-high hitting streak to 14 games.
“When we feel like we can win any game at any point, good at-bats tend to happen,” Hoskins said.
Hoskins missed the 2023 season due to a torn ACL in his right knee from spring training. He joined the Brewers as a free agent in the offseason.
“The kid just comes up big, takes his game seriously,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Milwaukee rookie Tobias Myers allowed three hits over 7 1/3 innings and struck out a career-high nine batters. Seven of those strikeouts were against the Reds’ top three hitters: Jonathan India, Elly De La Cruz, and Tyler Stephenson.
“I felt like I had everything going tonight, one of the first times I felt like I had that,” Myers said.
Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez gave up one hit and struck out seven in seven innings, tying his career high. He also pitched five shutout innings in his previous start at Miami, which was his eighth start of the season.
“I was really commanding all my pitches,” Martinez said.
Reds manager David Bell said, “What a start, when we needed it the most, you just can’t be any better than that.”
Both starting pitchers had no-hitters until a two-out single in the fourth inning. Neither pitcher allowed a runner past first base.
The only other Brewer to reach base was Gary Sánchez, who was hit by a pitch from Martinez.
Joel Payamps (2-5) pitched the eighth inning to get the win in the 2-hour, 3-minute game. With a runner on first base and one out, he retired Noelvi Marte and India.
Devin Williams pitched the ninth inning, striking out all three batters he faced to earn his first save of the season. Williams, making his fourth appearance, hadn’t pitched until July 28 after recovering from a back stress fracture.
