MILWAUKEE – Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona and all his ailing players and staff were back Saturday in Milwaukee after a rough day for many involving what seemed to be food poising and what Francona called “intestinal turmoil.”
The bats were even back in the game for the Reds — four home runs worth, in fact — after they went most of the week with a scant two unearned runs to show for four games of work.
But that doesn’t mean this team looked particularly hale and healthy on Saturday night, even in victory.
“We got some guys that probably feel like they got hit by a truck a little bit,” Francona said, “kind of like I do.”
And that didn’t even count the baseball that looked as sloppy at times Saturday as it looked like a fireworks display at others in the 11-7 victory.
Playing down a key bat in Matt McLain, who was a late scratch because of hamstring tightness for the second night in a row, the Reds broke out to a 7-0 lead on the strength of home runs by Blake Dunn and TJ Friedl in the second and by Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jose Trevino in the fourth.
It looked so bad so fast for the Brewers that fans spent most of the fourth inning booing spot starter Elvin Rodriguez and booing Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy for not pulling him from the game.
The boos turned to cheers when pitching coach Chris Hook went to the mound after a Friedl single to right following Trevino’s homer, but then turned to boos again when Hook left Rodriguez on the field.
The Brewers made a game of it by cutting the Reds lead to 7-5 with a four-run fifth inning but that was as close as Milwaukee would get.
Brady Singer improved to 2-0, pitching five innings and allowing three earned runs.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds outhit mistakes, take out 'intestinal turmoil' on Brewers
