After the game, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke was frank about how important the getaway win was.
"We needed it," Roenicke said. "We needed to win this game. We're getting too far behind. We're not playing the way that we want to play. So I think the offense was good today. Certainly, (we) could've piled on more runs than we did, but at least we had tons of opportunity."
Aside from the overall sense of relief for the Brewers and their standing in the NL Central, Wednesday's game offered a personal sense of redemption for two Milwaukee players who have experienced their share of struggles this season.
Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks, who has suffered the worst slump of his career to start the season — he has the worst batting average of any starter in baseball — continued his redemptive month of June, slamming his first home run in over a month off of Cincinnati pitcher Homer Bailey in the second inning. The homer gave Milwaukee an important early two-run lead that Milwaukee maintained all game.
Even Weeks, who has consistently downplayed the effect of his slump on his play, seemed to be more optimistic after Wednesday's win.
"I'm not going to say I'm 100 percent back to old Rickie Weeks," Weeks said after the game, "but at the same time, I'm trying hard."
On the other side of second base, Brewers shortstop Cody Ransom, who has been battling a minor hand injury, also was able to kick his recent struggles with a home run. His two-run blast in the sixth inning, which chased Bailey from the mound, gave the Brewers enough offense to hold off the Reds. Ransom had hit just one home run in the month of June prior to Wednesday.
He said he had been working particularly hard in the batting cages as of late to improve his play at the plate.
"I feel like it's finally starting to pay off," Ransom said. "I'm feeling a bit more comfortable about my swing."
And for the Brewers, some struggles finally amounted to a payoff on Wednesday. Still back by 7.5 games in the NL Central race, though, Milwaukee can't handle many more tough losses like it has experienced in the past month.
"(They're) tough," Ransom said. "We've got a real resilient team, but no matter how resilient they are, the losses kind of grind on you."
For one afternoon, however, the story was less about struggles and more about redemption for the Milwaukee Brewers.
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