CINCINNATI _ You don't see many pitching duels at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park but Milwaukee right-hander Zach Davies and Cincinnati's Dan Straily put on a show Sunday.
Both starters pitched shutout ball for seven innings, leaving it up to one side to break through late. And it was the Reds who did so in the bottom of the ninth in heartbreaking fashion for the Brewers to pull out a rare 1-0 victory.
The winning rally started with Billy Hamilton drawing a two-out walk from reliever Tyler Thornburg, prompting Brewers manager Craig Counsell to summon lefty Will Smith to face Joey Votto. He drew a walk to put two on, and Hamilton then swiped third.
That stolen base became huge because Smith threw a slider wide of the plate that Bruce swung on and missed but the ball got away from catcher Jonathan Lucroy and Hamilton raced home with the only run of the game on what was ruled a passed ball.
Over his seven-inning stint, Davies allowed only four hits _ all singles _ and no walks while logging five strikeouts. He recorded 12 consecutive outs before departing and though he didn't get rewarded with a win he lowered his earned run average to 3.79 for the season.
Straily's showing was a bit more surprising because he had fared badly since recording his last victory on June 11 against Oakland. In five starts since, he was 0-4 with a 7.67 ERA.
Davies had to work out of immediate trouble when Zack Cozart led off the Reds first inning with a single and speedy Hamilton bunted for a hit. He did so by retiring Votto on a liner to left, inducing Bruce to ground into a force at second and getting Adam Duvall to pop out to shallow center, with Kirk Nieuwenhuis making a charging, sprawling catch.
The Brewers didn't even put a runner in scoring position against Straily until the fifth inning, and that was when Ramon Flores doubled into the right-field corner with two down. Davies took a called third strike to end that mini-threat.
Jonathan Villar led off the sixth with a walk and broke for second with one down on a 3-2 pitch to Ryan Braun, who struck out. Villar swiped the bag and continued to third when catcher Tucker Barnhart's throw sailed into center but Jonathan Lucroy grounded out to short.
After Votto led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, the Brewers shifted their infield against Bruce and turned a rare 3-5-3 double play. That began a string of 12 consecutive outs recorded by Davies before he left the game.
With one down in the Brewers eighth, Andy Wilkins batted for Davies and drew a walk from reliever Michael Lorenzen. Villar grounded into a force at second before Scooter Gennett kept the inning alive with a single. That threat was halted when Braun tapped back to Lorenzen for the third out.
