Arcia’s HR breaks slump, leads Brewers over Reds 4-3

CINCINNATI (AP) — Orlando Arcia ended his season-opening slump with a three-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers extended their domination of the Cincinnati Reds by holding on for a 4-3 victory Tuesday night.

Milwaukee has won the first two games of the series and 15 of 21 against Cincinnati over the last two seasons. The defending NL Central champions are off to a 5-1 start, one game better than a year ago when they tied the club record with 96 wins.

Arcia was 0 for 16 when he connected off Michael Lorenzen , who was brought in to face the shortstop with two outs in the sixth inning after left-hander Zach Duke (1-1) gave up a walk and a single. Arcia’s opposite-field homer barely cleared the wall in right field and snapped a 1-1 tie.

Jhoulys Chacin (2-0) gave up three hits and a pair of runs in 5 1/3 innings, including Eugenio Suarez’s RBI double . Suarez added a solo homer off Junior Guerra in the eighth.

Josh Hader gave up a walk in the ninth while getting his fourth save in four chances, leaving the Reds with a 1-3 start — same as last season.

Christian Yelich singled and doubled, leaving him the only Brewer to hit safely in all six games. The NL MVP is batting .409 with four homers and three doubles.

The Reds drew 10,195 fans on a 61-degree night, a day after only 7,799 attended the series opener — the smallest crowd in Great American Ball Park history.

REDS MOVE

The Reds outrighted left-hander Brandon Finnegan to the minors. He was designated for assignment on opening day.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: RH Jeremy Jeffress is expected to pitch on a rehab assignment when the Triple-A season begins later this week. He could rejoin the Brewers after making back-to-back appearances. He’s on the 10-day injured list with a sore shoulder.

Reds: LH Alex Wood isn’t ready to throw to hitters as he recovers from back problems. Manager David Bell said Tuesday that Wood has had some setbacks, so there’s no timetable for his return from the injured list.

UP NEXT

Brewers: Freddy Peralta (0-0) gave up four runs in three innings of a 9-5 loss to the Cardinals on Friday. He’s 0-1 in two career starts at Great American with a 7.71 ERA.

Reds: Luis Castillo (0-0) makes his second start. He was originally scheduled to pitch Thursday in Pittsburgh, but Bell didn’t want him facing the Pirates twice in a week. Castillo allowed two hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh in the opener.