MILWAUKEE (AP) — With Christian Yelich on the bench, Milwaukee couldn’t even get a runner past second base.
Sonny Gray and three Cincinnati relievers held down the Brewers, who were missing Yelich because of back spasms, in the Reds’ 3-0 victory Tuesday night.
It was the major league-leading seventh shutout for the Reds as the Brewers were blanked for the first time this season.
Yelich was a late scratch from the starting lineup because of the back issue. Manager Craig Counsell said Yelich’s status would be reviewed Wednesday.
Gray (1-4) earned his first win of the season with six shutout innings in his first appearance ever at Miller Park. He tied his season-high with nine strikeouts. Raisel Iglesias earned his 10th save.
“I’ve had a plan, I just stayed with it and trusted that,” Gray said. “I just trusted it making big pitches with runners on.”
The Brewers showed a lack of punch without Yelich, the 2018 National League MVP, striking out 14 times. Yelich is batting .325 and had a major league-leading 19 home runs coming into Tuesday night.
Nick Senzel led off the first inning with a triple off Brewers starter Gio Gonzalez (2-1) and scored when Gonzalez threw a wild pitch to Phillip Ervin. Ervin then doubled, scoring Eugenio Suarez, who had walked. And Ervin scored when Kyle Farmer hit into a fielder’s choice.
“They caught me on my heels that first inning,” Gonzalez said. “They were real aggressive right away.”
After cruising through the first three innings giving up only one hit, Gray walked Ryan Braun and Yasmani Grandal to start the fourth inning. But Braun was thrown out trying to steal third, Eric Thames grounded out and Keston Hiura struck out. The Brewers also put two runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings, but couldn’t score.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: Yelich previously missed parts of seven games in late April and early May because of back problems, but did not go on the injured list…3B Travis Shaw (right wrist strain) is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A San Antonio on Wednesday after being placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday.
Reds: OF Yasiel Puig, who suffered a sprained right shoulder after making a catch in right field and crashing into the padded wall in Cincinnati on Sunday, didn’t play but won’t be going on the injured list, manager David Bell said. … LHP Zach Duke (right calf strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Monday and IF Josh VanMeter was recalled from Triple-A Louisville.
BASE-RUNNING BASICS
When Braun was caught stealing, he didn’t start running until Reds catcher Curt Casali had already caught a wide-and-outside pitch from Gray. The Reds’ Nick Senzel was called out in the fifth inning for running out of the baseline. He was an easy out after he started to try to steal second base before Gonzalez threw a pitch.
PITCH-HITTING
Brewers LHP Brandon Woodruff lifted his season batting average to .333 (8-for-24) with a pinch-hit single. As a pinch-hitter, he’s 2-for-3.
OUT BY STRIKEOUT
Reds LHP Amir Garrett has recorded his last nine outs by strikeout. On Tuesday, he pitched the eighth inning and struck out all three Brewers batters he faced.
A HOME WELCOME
Hiura, a first-round draft pick of Milwaukee in 2017, made his first appearance at Miller Park. His major-league debut was on May 14. The second baseman went 2-for-4 with two singles and two strikeouts.
UP NEXT
Reds: RHP Luis Castillo (5-1, 1.90 ERA) has won his previous two starts, at home against the Chicago Cubs and in San Francisco against the Giants.
Brewers: RHP Zach Davies (5-0, 1.54 ERA) has given up only one earned run in each of his previous two starts, against the Phillies and the Cubs, both on the road.
Reds’ boxscore
Reds 3, Brewers 0
Cincinnati Milwaukee
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Senzel cf 3 1 1 0 Cain cf 3 0 2 0
Votto 1b 4 0 1 0 Mstakas 3b 4 0 0 0
E.Suarez 3b 3 1 0 0 Braun lf 3 0 1 0
Ervin rf 3 1 1 1 Grandal c 1 0 0 0
J.Iglesias ss 4 0 1 0 Thames 1b 4 0 0 0
K.Farmer 2b 3 0 0 1 Hiura 2b 4 0 2 0
Winker ph-lf 1 0 0 0 Gamel rf 4 0 0 0
Casali c 3 0 0 0 Arcia ss 4 0 0 0
Peraza lf-2b 3 0 0 0 G.Gnzal p 1 0 0 0
S.Gray p 2 0 0 0 Wodruff ph 1 0 1 0
Dav.Hrndz p 0 0 0 0 F.Prlta p 0 0 0 0
Dietrich ph 1 0 0 0 Aguilar ph 1 0 0 0
Garrett p 0 0 0 0 Houser p 0 0 0 0
R.Iglesias p 0 0 0 0
Totals 30 3 4 2 Totals 30 0 6 0

Cincinnati 300 000 000 = 3
Milwaukee 000 000 000 = 0

DP—Cincinnati 2. LOB—Cincinnati 3, Milwaukee 8. 2B—Ervin (1), Cain (16). 3B—Senzel (2). SB—K.Farmer (2). CS—Senzel (1), Braun (1).
IP H R ER BB SO
Cincinnati
Gray W,1-4 6 5 0 0 4 9
Hernandez H,8 1 0 0 0 0 2
Garrett H,7 1 0 0 0 1 3
Iglesias S,10-12 1 1 0 0 0 0
Milwaukee
Gonzalez L,2-1 5 3 3 3 3 4
Peralta 2 0 0 0 0 2
Houser 2 1 0 0 0 4
WP—Gonzalez.
Umpires—Home, Chad Whitson; First, Mike Muchlinski; Second, Mike Winters; Third, Tim Timmons.
T—2:39. A—36,829 (41,900).