CINCINNATI (AP) — Micah Owings helped the ailing Cincinnati Reds feel a little better.

The right-hander pitched six innings and had a tiebreaking triple Thursday night, leading Cincinnati’s flu-stricken lineup to a 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and a split of their two-game series.

The Reds needed everything they could get from Owings (2-3), their fifth starter and occasional pinch hitter. The lineup was missing two starters with the flu, and the pitching staff was so worn out that shortstop Paul Janish worked the ninth inning of Milwaukee’s 15-3 win on Thursday night.

‘‘Micah gave us all he had,’’ manager Dusty Baker said.

‘‘We tried to stay with him as long as we could. Our bullpen was upside-down. Heck, our lineup was upside-down, too. All of the guys came through big-time. This was a big win.’’

Owings’ run-scoring triple off Braden Looper (2-2) helped him turn a 6-5 lead over to the bullpen. Francisco Cordero retired the three batters he faced in the ninth, remaining perfect in eight save chances.

Jay Bruce and Willy Taveras also had solo homers off Looper, who lasted only 3 1-3 innings, his shortest appearance of the season.

‘‘The whole outing — frustrating is putting it a nice way,’’ Looper said. ‘‘I just didn’t have it today. I kept trying and kept trying, and wasn’t able to get the ball down.’’

Milwaukee won three of four on its brief trip to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The Brewers have won 12 of their last 16 games overall, allowing them to head home feeling good.

Reds 6, Brewers 5

Milwaukee Cincinnati

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Weeks 2b 4 1 1 0 Taveras cf 4 1 1 1

Hart rf 4 1 0 0 HrstnJr 2b 4 0 1 0

Braun lf 4 2 2 0 Bruce rf 3 2 1 1

Fielder 1b 3 1 3 2 RHrndz 1b 3 0 2 0

MCmrn cf 4 0 0 2 L.Nix lf 3 1 1 1

Hardy ss 4 0 1 1 ARosls 3b 3 0 0 0

Hall 3b 1 0 0 0 Hanign c 3 0 0 1

McClng p 0 0 0 0 Janish ss 3 1 2 0

Duffy ph 1 0 0 0 Owings p 3 1 1 1

DiFelic p 0 0 0 0 Masset p 0 0 0 0

Stetter p 0 0 0 0 Rhodes p 0 0 0 0

Julio p 0 0 0 0 Dickrsn ph 1 0 0 0

BNelsn ph 1 0 0 0 Corder p 0 0 0 0

Kendall c 4 0 0 0

Looper p 1 0 0 0

Counsll 3b 2 0 0 0

Totals 33 5 7 5 Totals 30 6 9 5

Milwaukee 000 302 000 — 5

Cincinnati 102 210 00x — 6

E—Hairston Jr. (2). DP—Cincinnati 2. LOB—Milwaukee 4, Cincinnati 7. 2B—Fielder (6), Hardy (3), L.Nix (7), Janish (2). 3B—Owings (1). HR—Taveras (1), Bruce (8). S—A.Rosales. SF—L.Nix, Hanigan.

IP H R ER BB SO

Milwaukee

Looper L,2-2 3 1-3 8 5 5 2 2

McClung 1 2-3 1 1 1 0 0

DiFelice 1 0 0 0 0 0

Stetter 1 0 0 0 0 0

Julio 1 0 0 0 1 0

Cincinnati

Owings W,2-3 6 7 5 4 1 4

Masset H,1 1 1-3 0 0 0 1 3

Rhodes H,5 2-3 0 0 0 1 2

Cordero S,8-8 1 0 0 0 0 1

HBP—by Stetter (R.Hernandez). WP—Looper, Julio, Masset. Umpires—Home, Greg Gibson; First, Andy Fletcher; Second, Ted Barrett; Third, Tim Timmons. T—2:55. A—14,724 (42,319).