Brewers struggle to string hits together

Four has been the magic number for the Milwaukee Brewers this season.

The Brewers have yet to lose when scoring four or more runs in a game. However, plating four runs has become an issue.

Milwaukee's offense scuffled again in Sunday afternoon's 4-3 loss to Cincinnati in 10 innings, managing just six hits and hardly putting up much of a fight besides a pair of early solo home runs.

Todd Frazier's RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the 10th off Tyler Thornburg brought home Chris Heisey from first base to send the Brewers to their first road series loss of the season, as Milwaukee finished its road trip at 3-4.

"This would have been an important game to win," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "You lose this one and now this is a bad road trip. You win it and it turns into a good road trip. You wouldn't think one game would do that, but it does."

When the Brewers have lost this season, the offense has been the main culprit. The Brewers have averaged just 1.6 runs per game with a .164 batting average in their 11 losses, meaning the pitching staff has held up their end of the bargain the majority of the time.

In its four-game series in Cincinnati, the Brewers averaged just 2.5 runs per game while hitting .186 as a team. Four of Milwaukee's last five runs have come via the solo home run, as the Brewers are struggling to string hits together.

Roenicke said he has no plans of making changes to the lineup quite yet, hoping his ballclub can snap out of its funk in its upcoming series against Arizona. The Diamondbacks entered Sunday with the worst team ERA in baseball.

"We have to do a better job of battling," Roenicke said. "If it makes sense to shuffle, we shuffle. I just don't see where there are pieces to change that different. We have to do a better job. We get opportunities, and we're not getting the job done now."

Jonathan Lucroy put the Brewers up 2-0 with a two-out RBI single in the third inning, while Khris Davis connected for a solo home run to make it 3-1 in the fourth.

After that, the Brewers didn't get another hit until Davis led off the 10th inning with a double. Jonathan Lucroy walked twice in the time being but was erased both times on double-play balls hit by Aramis Ramirez.

Kyle Lohse didn't have his best stuff, but the veteran right-hander kept the Brewers in the game and left with a 3-2 lead. Will Smith helped Lohse out of a jam in the seventh inning, stranding runners at the corners by striking out Jay Bruce and inducing a fly out off the bat of Skip Schumaker.

The lefty Smith stayed in to retire the left-handed Joey Votto to start the eighth inning and then gave way to Brandon Kintzler. Phillips greeted Kintzler with a 425-foot homer to dead center to even the score at 3-3.

"It was set up the right way," Roenicke said. "We didn't execute. They did a nice job. When they needed a big hit, they got a big hit."

Milwaukee's chance to take the lead in extra innings came in the 10th after Davis led off the frame with a double off the wall in left.

That's when the failure to execute happened.

Pinch hitter Jeff Bianchi popped up a bunt attempt for an easy first out, while Jean Segura flew out weakly to right. After Logan Schafer worked a six-pitch walk, Reds reliever Sam LeCure got Carlos Gomez to chase a curveball in the dirt for a strikeout to end the inning.

Tyler Thornburg got Votto and Phillips for the first two outs of the bottom of the 10th but then walked Heisey on four pitches. Frazier made the free pass pay by lining a double into the left-field corner to win the game.

"They are patient," Roenicke said of the Reds. "They are going to get some walks. They don't chase out of the zone all that much. They will once in a while. They did a better job than we did offensively."

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