Garrett Mitchell hit a grand slam, William Contreras homered and drove in six runs, and Dustin May tossed six innings of two-hit ball as the Milwaukee Brewers routed the visiting Cincinnati Reds 20-0 on Friday night to clinch their eighth postseason berth in nine seasons.
The Brewers fell short of the biggest shutout in modern major league history, a record they tied on Aug. 18 by trouncing the Seattle Mariners 22-0.
May (7-9), acquired at the trade deadline from the St. Louis Cardinals, allowed singles in the first and fourth innings. He struck out six and walked one in an 84-pitch outing to improve to 2-2 with Milwaukee.
Rookie Garrett Stallings pitched the final three innings for his first save.
Mitchell’s 10th homer of the year, and first career grand slam, capped an eight-run fifth inning that put the Brewers up 17-0. Brice Turang and Jake Bauers homered during a six-run second when Milwaukee went in front 8-0.
Contreras belted a three-run homer in the eighth off catcher Jose Trevino, who pitched the final two innings Brewers.
Milwaukee (92-56) pounded out a season-high 23 hits and won its fourth straight to maintain a 10-game lead in the National League Central over the Chicago Cubs (82-66), who won earlier Friday. The Brewers, bidding for their fourth consecutive division title, are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best overall record in the majors.
The Brewers jumped on Andrew Abbott (6-11) for two runs in the first and six in the second, ending his nine-hit outing after 43 pitches. Cincinnati (69-78) has lost four straight.
Contreras (sacrifice fly) and Andrew Vaughn (double) had the RBIs in the first inning.
Cooper Pratt and Mitchell opened the second with consecutive singles. Jackson Chourio’s one-out ground-rule double scored Pratt to make it 3-0. Turang then lined a 1-2 pitch 382 feet to right-center. Vaughn singled with two outs, and Bauers followed with a 412-foot shot to center.
Milwaukee added a run the fourth when Turang drew a leadoff walk and scored when Bauers’ two-out single was misplayed for an outfield error.
Rookie Luis Lara kept the Reds off the board in the fifth with a sensational leaping grab above the right field wall on Eugenio Suarez’s potential homer.
