MILWAUKEE -- After a downright awful August, the Milwaukee Brewers are finding September much more to their liking.
Milwaukee won its second straight game -- the first such streak since Aug. 8-10 -- and hit double digits in runs for the first time since July 1, beating the Cincinnati Reds 11-4 on Friday night.
The 11 runs were the most scored since Milwaukee beat Anaheim 12-2 on June 9. The team is 13-35 since the All-Star break, with only two two-game winning streaks during that time.
The Brewers scored five runs in the first. Before Thursday night's win, they hadn't scored five runs in a game since Aug. 22.
"Just when it looks like there was no light at the end of the tunnel, you can break out of it real quickly," said Yost. "It was good to see the guys hit the ball well early and then keep adding on throughout the game. It was a good win for us tonight"
Yost was especially pleased to see three of his top players, Geoff Jenkins, Scott Podsednik and Wes Helms, play a big role in the offensive outburst. Jenkins had three hits and drove in three runs, Helms hit a home run and drove in three runs, and Podsednik had four hits to tie a career high and scored two runs.
All three players signed long-term contracts in the offseason, but have struggled at the plate this year.
"They are all capable of doing that on a regular basis," Yost said. "They have kept working hard through good time and bad. Those are three guys we depend on a lot and it was good to see them be a big part of our offense tonight."
Wes Obermueller (5-7) allowed four runs, six hits and four walks in six innings for the Brewers. He also went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk. Obermueller was aided by four double plays in the first four innings.
"I tried to stay on the attack out there," Obermueller said. "It was nice to get a big lead. I was a bit frustrated because I let some guys on. But I was able to get a couple of key ground balls that turned into double plays."
Brandon Claussen (2-4) lasted just 1 1-3 innings in his shortest outing this season for the Reds, giving up a career-high eight runs and seven hits.
"It wasn't fun, I'll tell you that," Claussen said. "The first inning I couldn't put guys away and it came back to bite me in the butt. You can't pitch up here like I did tonight. You can't pitch like that anywhere."
Cincinnati manager David Miley called the game "just one of those nights."
"We had some opportunities, but we hit into four double plays," he said. "We got off to a rough start and couldn't come back. It was a tough hill to climb."
Austin Kearns homered for Cincinnati, which lost its fourth straight.
Jenkins hit a two-run double in the first and scored on Brady Clark's sacrifice fly, and Helms hit a two-run homer, his first home run since May 11 against Montreal.
Jason LaRue's RBI grounder and Felipe Lopez's run-scoring single cut the gap to 5-2 in the second. LaRue hyperextended his right knee on the basepaths and left the game.
Lyle Overbay hit an RBI double in the bottom half, Jenkins had a run-scoring single, and Keith Ginter added a run-scoring grounder off Todd Van Poppel.
Gary Bennett's homer leading off the third made it 9-2.
Yost said he was pleased with the last two games and hoped it signaled that the Brewers would finish the season strong.
"The guys are still playing hard and want to end on a good note," he said. "Our guys are still focused. I hope this is a beginning of a nice run."
Notes
Brewers SS Bill Hall made two errors, raising his season total to a team-high 18. ... Reds RHP Danny Graves, activated from the disabled list prior to the game, was hit by a Helms' liner in the eighth inning and was forced to leave the game. ... The Reds' pitching staff has given up 39 runs in the last four games.
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