CINCINNATI _ Eric Thames enjoyed his first glimpse of Great American Ball Park.
Homering for the fifth time in the four-game series, Thames applied the finishing touch Sunday to the Milwaukee Brewers' 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
The triumph allowed the Brewers to take three of four from the Reds and go 5-1 on the first two stops on this three-city, nine-game trip. The Brewers have three games in Chicago against the Cubs before returning home.
Beyond Thames' ongoing display of power, the big news for the Brewers was the continued success of right-hander Wily Peralta. In six innings, he surrendered only three hits and two runs to boost his record to 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA through three starts.
It has been a stark contrast for Peralta to the 2016 season, when he staggered to a 4-7 start and 6.68 ERA through 13 outings, resulting in a demotion to the minors.
"Being able to start good is huge for me," Peralta said. "That was my goal. When I went home (after last season), I really thought about it. I was struggling early in the season the past few years."
Big right-hander Sal Romano made his first major-league start for the Reds and the Brewers made him work for every out. Romano worked around a pair of walks and an error in the first inning but needed 35 pitches to do so.
Manny Pina led off the second with a double and Kirk Nieuwenhuis was hit by a pitch but center fielder Billy Hamilton chased down Orlando Arcia's deep drive and again Romano escaped without a run. He would not be as fortunate in the third inning.
After second baseman Arismendy Alcantara booted Thames' leadoff grounder, Ryan Braun sent a 1-0 fastball the other way to right for a two-run homer. Travis Shaw followed by giving himself a nice 27th birthday present _ a long home run to right that gave the Brewers a 3-0 lead.
Romano exited after that inning, having thrown a whopping 82 pitches. Two errors by Alcantara didn't help but neither did the four walks he issued.
Peralta gave two runs back in the fourth when he issued a two-out walk to Adam Duvall, then hung a first-pitch slider to Eugenio Suarez, who parked it in the left-field stands.
The score stayed 3-2 until the seventh, when Thames led off with a blast to right off Reds reliever Tim Adleman.
