Brewers' postseason hopes take another hit, lose to Reds 6-0

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee rookie Brandon Woodruff was chased in a five-run third inning and the Brewers' postseason hopes took another hit Wednesday night when they fell 6-0 to the last-place Cincinnati Reds.

The Brewers have lost five of seven. They've dropped 2 ½ games behind Colorado for the second NL wild-card spot with only four games left.

Milwaukee was eliminated from the NL Central race earlier in the evening when the Chicago Cubs beat St. Louis.

Joey Votto hit his team-high 36th home run and Homer Bailey (6-9) threw seven strong innings for the Reds.

Woodruff (2-3) made his major league debut last month.

Tucker Barnhart opened the third with a home run and Bailey followed with a double. A one-out walk and four straight singles finished Woodruff.

The Brewers were held to four hits. Bailey settled down after a choppy first to make his longest start since Aug. 7, 2014. He allowed four hits, walked three and struck out four.

Milwaukee managed to get runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth, but Travis Shaw was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Billy Hamilton while trying to score on Orlando Arcia's single.

The Brewers are running out of time to gain ground in a playoff race that few fans outside of Milwaukee thought was possible when the season began. At 83-75, they might have to settle for the satisfaction of having already clinched a winning season, an impressive feat for a franchise in just its second full year of rebuilding.

"You know, it's been a great ride for a lot of reasons. It was not expected this season," team owner Mark Attanasio said before the game. "Or, if somebody did expect it, I'd like to know who it was. Maybe (manager) Craig Counsell might have expected it."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Reds: SS Zack Cozart left the game before the bottom of the third with right quad tightness.

Brewers: 1B Eric Thames writhed in pain for about a minute on the ground after fouling a ball in the eighth inning off his right foot. He limped back to the dugout on a 1-2 count, with Eric Sogard striking out to finish the at-bat.

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Sal Romano (5-7), one of four rookies in the rotation, makes his final start of the year. He is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in two starts this year against Milwaukee.

Brewers: LHP Brent Suter (3-2) is 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA in six games against the Reds. He allowed five runs on four hits in five innings in his only start against Cincinnati on Aug. 12.