MILWAUKEE _ This looked more like the Zach Davies, Hernan Perez and Jonathan Villar of 2016, not those who scuffled through the first three weeks of the season.
That threesome took big steps forward Tuesday night at Miller Park, leading the way to a 9-1 romp over Cincinnati.
Eric Thames homered again, giving him at least one in all six games against the Reds this season for a total of eight. Overall, Thames has belted 11 home runs, most ever in April for the Brewers.
Davies entered the game with an 8.24 earned run average in his first four starts, mostly because his command wasn't the same as a year ago. But the slightly built right-hander blanked the Reds for five innings, stranding a pair of runners three times by making pitches when necessary.
Perez entered the game batting .209, but only because he collected a single, double and home run the previous evening. This time he ripped two RBI triples and followed that with another home run. By the end of the night, Perez was batting .261.
Villar, who was such a force atop the lineup last season, began the night hitting .176 with a .553 OPS and a whopping 33 strikeouts in 93 plate appearances. He came to life against the Reds with a pair of two-run singles, the first capping a three-run rally in the fourth and the second coming in the Brewers' five-run sixth inning.
Thames, who had been quiet with a walk and two outs entering the sixth, put the finishing touch on the outburst with a two-run shot to right off reliever Robert Stephenson.
At that point, Thames had more home runs against the Reds than any other major-leaguer had, period. Enacting something of a mercy rule, manager Craig Counsell removed Thames for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning.
The Brewers are 5-1 against the Reds this and have scored 44 runs in those six games.
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