MILWAUKEE (AP) — Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price was going to take a win any way it came.

Dramatic fashion worked just fine.

Joey Votto put Cincinnati ahead with a two-run home run in the ninth inning and the Reds came back to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 12-9 Saturday.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Reds, who have won just twice in their past 15 games. The team led 6-1 before Milwaukee came back to take a 9-8 lead in the fifth.

“At this point, I’m just happy to be in here savoring a win,” Price said. “And it was a resilient win.”

Votto put the Reds ahead by homering off Brewers closer Francisco Rodriguez (0-3) with Jay Bruce at first. The Reds added two more runs when Todd Frazier, who hit his 30th homer in the fifth, scored on a passed ball and Tucker Barnhart hit an RBI single.

The homer was Votto’s 25th of the season and ended Rodriguez’s run of 35 consecutive saves dating back to last season.

“Eventually, it was going to happen. Unfortunately, it was a bad moment,” he said. “It’s something that I just have to turn the page really quick and hope to God they give me an opportunity tomorrow to bounce back.”

Reds right-hander Keyvius Sampson pitched 3 2-3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits.

Price said Sampson wasn’t sharp and fell behind too many hitters.

“He has to get better and that starts by getting ahead in the count,” he said. “He’s going through the school of hard knocks right now. We hope he will learn from these challenges.”

Scooter Gennett tied a career high with four hits and drove in three runs for Milwaukee.

Matt Garza lasted just 3 2-3 innings, giving up seven runs on 11 hits. Garza has given up 19 runs and 27 hits over his last 13 1-3 innings.

The Reds grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first, breaking a 19-inning scoreless streak on Brandon Phillips’ RBI groundout and Frazier’s RBI bunt single.

After Milwaukee scored once in the first, Bruce hit his 19th homer of the season — a three-run blast — during a four-run second for the Reds. Bruce also led off the ninth with a single to set up Votto’s homer.

In the second, Gennett’s RBI single scored a run, and another came around on an error by Frazier to make the score 6-3.

Votto’s RBI single in the fourth inning made it 7-3 and chased Garza from the game.

Gennett, Ryan Braun and Adam Lind each had RBI singles in the fourth.

Milwaukee completed its comeback by scoring three runs in the fifth on pinch-hitter Shane Peterson’s sacrifice fly, Gennett’s RBI triple and Jonathan Lucroy’s sacrifice fly to give the Brewers a 9-8 lead.

CAREER MILESTONE

Frazier’s homer set a career high. He said it was one of his goals this season to hit at least 30 home runs.

“It felt great,” he said. “It was just one of those things where I got a pitch to hit.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: OF Brennan Boesch is still battling soreness in his right ankle and was out of action Saturday, missing his seventh straight game. Price said that there was still “a lot of inflammation” in Boesch’s ankle.

Brewers: RHP Tyler Cravy has been playing catch this week as he recovers from an elbow impingement that put him on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 19. Manager Craig Counsell said he expects Cravy to make “quick progress,” and Cravy will pitch out of the bullpen when he returns to the active roster.

UP NEXT

Reds: LHP John Lamb (0-2) will make his fourth major league start Sunday against the Brewers. Lamb was among the three players the Reds received from the Kansas City Royals in the July 26 trade for RHP Johnny Cueto.

Brewers: RHP Wily Peralta (4-8) will start the series finale. Peralta has gone 3-3 with a 5.52 ERA since coming off the DL on July 27. He went just 2 2-3 innings in his last start Tuesday, giving up four runs in an 11-6 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

 

SATURDAY’S GAME

Reds 12, Brewers 9

 

Cincinnati Milwaukee

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Bourgeois cf 5 3 3 0 Gennett 2b 5 3 4 3

Bruce rf 5 3 3 3 Lucroy c 3 1 2 1

Votto 1b 5 1 3 3 Braun rf 5 0 1 1

Phillips 2b 3 0 1 1 Lind 1b 4 0 2 2

Frazier 3b 5 2 2 2 K.Davis lf 3 0 0 0

Suarez ss 5 1 1 0 W.Smith p 0 0 0 0

Schumaker lf 3 0 2 0 J.Rogers ph 1 0 0 0

Badenhop p 0 0 0 0 Fr.Rodriguez p 0 0 0 0

Ju.Diaz p 0 0 0 0 Goforth p 0 0 0 0

LaMarre ph 1 0 0 0 Do.Santana cf-lf 5 0 0 0

Hoover p 0 0 0 0 E.Herrera 3b 4 2 1 0

B.Pena ph 1 1 1 0 Segura ss 5 3 3 0

A.Chapman p 0 0 0 0 Garza p 1 0 0 0

Barnhart c 5 0 1 2 Thornburg p 1 0 0 0

Sampson p 2 1 0 0 S.Peterson ph 0 0 0 1

Villarreal p 0 0 0 0 C.Jimenez p 0 0 0 0

De Jesus Jr. lf 2 0 0 0 Jeffress p 0 0 0 0

L.Schafer ph-cf 1 0 0 0

Totals 42 12 17 11 Totals 38 9 13 8

 

 

Cincinnati 240 110 004 — 12

Milwaukee 120 330 000 — 9

 

E—Frazier (15), Suarez (12). DP—Milwaukee 1. LOB—Cincinnati 6, Milwaukee 8. 2B—Bruce (30), Schumaker (14), E.Herrera (11), Segura (9). 3B—Gennett (4), Lucroy (3). HR—Bruce (19), Votto (25), Frazier (30). CS—Frazier (6). SF—Lucroy, S.Peterson.

IP H R ER BB SO

Cincinnati

Sampson 3 2-3 7 6 5 2 3

Villarreal 2-3 4 2 2 1 1

Badenhop 1 2-3 1 1 1 0 3

Ju.Diaz 1 0 0 0 0 0

Hoover W,6-0 1 1 0 0 1 0

A.Chapman S,25-27 1 0 0 0 0 2

Milwaukee

Garza 3 2-3 11 7 7 1 2

Thornburg 1 1-3 1 1 1 0 0

C.Jimenez H,1 1 0 0 0 0 0

Jeffress H,17 1 1 0 0 0 0

W.Smith H,14 1 0 0 0 1 1

Fr.Rodriguez L,0-3 BS,1-31 2-3 4 4 3 1 1

Goforth 1-3 0 0 0 0 0

 

WP—Sampson, Garza 2. PB—Lucroy.

Umpires—Home, Dan Bellino; First, Bruce Dreckman; Second, Alfonso Marquez; Third, Tom Hallion.

T—3:59. A—34,365 (41,900).