Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds Box Score on May 23, 2021

Kolten Wong returned from a sore foot and forearm and finished a homer shy of the cycle, leading the visiting Milwaukee Brewers to a 9-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon.

Christian Yelich snapped an 0-for-11 skid with an RBI single and a long home run, and Avisail Garcia also went deep as Milwaukee captured the rubber game of the three-game series.

Milwaukee finished its five-game road trip with a 2-3 record while Cincinnati concluded its seven-game homestand with just one win. Brewers manager Craig Counsell tied Ned Yost for second on the all-time franchise list for managerial wins with 457. Phil Garner leads with 563.

The lone bright spot for Cincinnati was the continued torrid hitting from its top two hitters.

Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos both homered, combining for five of Cincinnati's six hits and driving in all four runs. Castellanos (.356), with his ninth-inning two-run homer, leapfrogged Winker (.355) for the National League lead in batting.

Projected Cincinnati ace Luis Castillo (1-7) continued his poor start to 2021, losing his sixth straight start after allowing five runs and five hits while walking four over five innings.

Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta fell an out shy of qualifying for the win. Brad Boxberger (1-1) earned his first win by getting the final out of the fifth inning, helping Peralta out of a bases-loaded jam.

Castillo found early trouble again in the first inning when he allowed a leadoff single to Wong, back in the Brewers lineup after taking a pitch off the right arm Friday and missing Saturday's game.

Garcia singled and then Castillo walked Daniel Vogelbach and Travis Shaw -- with one hit in his last 25 hits -- to force home Milwaukee's first run. Willy Adames fought off a fastball inside and singled home two more runs to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead.

The Brewers increased their advantage to 5-0 in the third inning after Garcia connected for his seventh homer, a two-run fly to right that landed just over the wall.

The Reds ended Peralta's scoreless inning streak at 18 when Winker drilled a solo homer of 456 feet to the power stacks in right-center, his 13th of the season and fifth of the three-game series.

Umpire Ron Kulpa missed Sunday's game with a concussion after taking a fastball from Cincinnati starter Sonny Gray off his facemask in the sixth inning Saturday.

--Field Level Media