When the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs in the opener of a 5-game series, it bunched the top 4 NL wild-card contenders within 5 1/2 games.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/reds as Cincinnati Reds Starting Pitcher Quietly Emerging as One of Baseball's Best Pitchers. Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott is coming off one of the most impressive weeks of his young career.

The Reds played clean baseball Sunday to beat the Brewers, but defensive lapses earlier cost them the series — again.

Craig Counsell has become more than chilly about the Cubs looking up at his former team in the standings ... and apparently, George Webb burgers.

Saturday night, the Reds had the winning run in scoring position with just one out in the bottom of the 10th. Elly De La Cruz struck out with runners on first and second and two outs to end the inning, and the Brewers took a 6-3 lead in the top of the 11th on a pinch-hit three-run home run by Andruw Monasterio.

The Cincinnati Reds knocked out an All-Star pitcher in the second to take an 8-1 lead, then blew it in a 10-8 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

First, Priester hung a 1-2 curve to the light-hitting Ke'Bryan Hayes, who roped the ball inside the left field foul pole 388 feet to tie the game.

Cincinnati Reds Make Flurry of Roster Moves Ahead of Series Finale vs Milwaukee Brewers. The Reds are hoping to win on Sunday to avoid being swept by the Brewers.