CINCINNATI _ This is why Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell does not like numbering his starting pitchers one through five.
Counsell's point is that after Opening Day, the five starters are on equal footing. Barring injuries or trades, they all will make the same number of starts, give or take.
Designate them as you please, but Wily Peralta, Chase Anderson and Jimmy Nelson have been getting it done at the back of the rotation. It was Nelson's turn Thursday night to keep that train churning down the tracks, and he did so with seven sterling innings in the Brewers' 5-1 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
After speedy Billy Hamilton, in essence, stole a run in the first inning, Nelson took command of the game. He allowed only five hits over his seven frames and no walks while logging five strikeouts.
After two starts, Nelson is 1-0 with a 1.38 earned run average, joining Peralta (2-0, 2.45) and Anderson (1-0, 0.69) in propping up the rotation.
During the afternoon hitters meeting, the mostly inexperienced Brewers were warned to make Bronson Arroyo throw strikes. The crafty 40-year-old veteran features a variety of slow and slower pitches, many of them out of the strike zone that look hittable but are not.
"He's certainly a unique pitcher," Counsell said. "He's one of a kind. He has been one of a kind for a long time, really, which is to his credit. He is different.
"He's doing something different. That's why he's here. That's the kind of challenge with Bronson Arroyo."
And Arroyo mowed down the first six hitters before things changed dramatically in the third inning. It started with opposite-field singles to right by Manny Pina and Orlando Arcia, followed by Nelson's sacrifice bunt.
Jonathan Villar delivered one run with a groundout to first and Eric Thames followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. Ryan Braun then made it a four-run outburst by ripping his third home run of the season to left and his 36th career blast against the Reds.
Thames boosted the lead to 5-1 with a two-out homer in the fifth off Arroyo, a shot to right-center. After that, both offenses went quiet.
