MILWAUKEE _ A quick strike and a series sweep.
That summed it up for the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon. They jumped all over Cincinnati Reds starter Rookie Davis in the opening inning, grabbed a comfortable early lead and then switched on the cruise control en route to a 9-4 victory at Miller Park.
Jett Bandy had three hits and four other Brewers had multiple-hit games as the team racked up a season-high 14 hits in recording its first sweep of a series of more than two games in 2017.
One player who wasn't among that group was first baseman Eric Thames, who singled and walked twice before leaving the game in the eighth inning with tightness in his left hamstring. Manager Craig Counsell said the injury wasn't serious and Thames reiterated that afterward, much to the relief of Brewers fans everywhere.
"The normal wear and tear from playing every day," said Thames, whose streak of six consecutive games with a home run against the Reds was snapped.
"We have an off day tomorrow. I'm going to take full advantage of that and come back Friday ready to go."
Pitcher Wily Peralta improved to 4-1 this season but wasn't especially sharp as he allowed four solo homers to the Reds in his five-inning stint, including a pair by Scott Schebler. In fairness to Peralta, the defense behind him was shaky at times, with the Brewers committing three errors overall and two on consecutive plays in the third.
Joey Votto was the first to get to Peralta, as his homer three batters into the game gave Cincinnati a quick 1-0 lead.
The Brewers wasted no time responding. They sent 10 batters to the plate, collected seven hits and scored five runs off Davis in the bottom half of the frame to go ahead, 5-1. Ryan Braun's two-RBI double got Milwaukee going, then Hernan Perez (sacrifice fly), Bandy (RBI single) and Orlando Arcia (RBI double) helped tack onto the lead.
Their seven hits were their most in an opening inning since Aug. 28, 2009 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when they also had seven.
Milwaukee has outscored its opponents, 27-8, in the opening inning this season. It's also led at some point in 21 of its 23 games on the season, including each of the last 16.
And how's this for some impressive offense? The Brewers are batting .363 with 12 doubles, a triple, seven homers, 27 RBI and 14 walks in the first inning.
The Brewers added a run in the second and two more in the third on an Arcia homer to right to chase Davis after 2 2/3 innings and 64 pitches. His final line wasn't pretty: 11 hits, eight runs (seven earned) and a walk to go along with a pair of strikeouts.
Peralta gave up homers to Adam Duvall and Schebler in a span of three batters in the fourth, and Schebler added his second homer in his next at-bat in the sixth to make it 9-4. The right-hander then walked Zack Cozart and gave up a pinch-hit single before making way for Carlos Torres, who picked up Peralta by inducing three straight popouts.
Peralta threw 100 pitches, allowing eight hits, four earned runs and two walks. He also struck out seven to match his season high.
"I made a couple of good pitches that they put good swings on," Peralta said. "Two of those four home runs that I gave up I made good pitches down in the zone. Credit to them. We scored a bunch of runs, and that's always a good way to pitch, when you have the lead early."
Bandy's RBI double in the fourth capped the scoring for the Brewers, who improved to 6-1 against the Reds this season.
