MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers waited more than a week for their offense to start producing like it’s supposed to.
The wake-up call finally came in the fifth inning of Saturday night’s victory over the Cincinnati Reds — and then some. Home runs by Ryan Braun and Mike Cameron gave the Brewers the lead, and Milwaukee went on to score six runs in the inning and beat the Reds 9-5.
Milwaukee had scored four runs or fewer in each of its previous 10 games, going 4-6 during that stretch.
“Guys are shaking loose a little bit,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “Let’s hope we have a carryover.”
Cincinnati was without offensive standout Joey Votto, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with stress-related issues believed to be linked to his ongoing struggles with an inner-ear infection — although club officials were hesitant to go into detail about the situation.
But pitching was the Reds’ biggest problem Saturday, especially in a fifth inning that at times seemed like it might last all night.
“They can hit,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “If you don’t make quality pitches on them, they’re going to hurt you.”
With Milwaukee trailing 5-3 going into the fifth, Braun hit a one-out solo home run to cut Cincinnati’s lead to one. Prince Fielder then singled, and Cameron hit a 1-1 pitch from Reds starter Aaron Harang deep to left-center field for his 10th home run of the season and a 6-5 Milwaukee lead.
It was the Brewers’ third home run of the night off Harang (5-5), who also allowed a three-run homer by Fielder in the first.
“Anytime you’ve got a chance, you’ve got to capitalize or else it’s going to be a tough day,” said Fielder, who leads the National League in RBIs with 48.
But the homers by Braun and Cameron were just the start of the Brewers’ big inning.
Corey Hart reached on an infield hit, then barely beat a throw home to score on a double by Bill Hall. Baker then removed Harang in favor of Jared Burton.
Burton allowed a ground-rule double to Mike Rivera, scoring Hall to give the Brewers an 8-5 lead. Burton then got Brewers relief pitcher Seth McClung to swing at strike three, but a wild pitch got away from catcher Ryan Hanigan, allowing McClung to take first and Rivera to take third.
Rivera then scored on an RBI single by Craig Counsell, and the inning finally ended on back-to-back flyouts.
Harang, who had won three of his previous four starts, gave up 12 hits and was tagged for eight runs Saturday. He couldn’t throw breaking balls for strikes, and the Brewers gorged on a steady diet of fastballs.
“I couldn’t locate anything tonight, plain and simple,” Harang said. “You can’t live with just throwing the fastball. When you have nothing else to throw off of it, it’s going to be a long night.”
Macha also tipped his cap to the Brewers’ defense, which cut down a pair of runs at the plate, and Macha singled out third baseman Bill Hall for limiting Jerry Hairston Jr. to an infield hit on a sharply hit ball in the fifth.
“We left a runner on third and had a couple of guys thrown out at the plate,” Baker said. “It might have been a different ballgame. It probably would have been but we were trying to score all we could.”
McClung (2-1) pitched three scoreless innings to earn the win after Milwaukee starter Dave Bush turned in his shortest start of the season.
McClung said the Brewers’ relief pitchers feel compelled to put up scoreless innings because they know their potent offense always gives them a chance of coming back.
“This offense is really, really good,” McClung said. “That’s kind of stating the obvious. But these guys are outstanding.”
Bush gave up five runs, seven hits and three walks in four innings.<
Notes: Milwaukee tied a season high for runs in an inning. The Brewers also scored six runs in the seventh inning of a victory over the Chicago Cubs on May 9. … With Votto on the disabled list, the Reds called up utility player Wilkin Castillo from Triple-A Louisville. … CF Chris Dickerson took an extra-base hit away from Counsell with a remarkable sliding catch at the warning track in the fourth.
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