By Ron Kaplan, contributor

Only three hits total last night for the boys, but two of them went yard, so there was that.

Ryan Braun hit his first homer (#8) since April 28, but his long bomb wasn’t enough to keep the Milwaukee Brewers (41-39) from losing a squeaker to the host Cincinnati Reds (33-44), 4-3. The solo shot in the third broke a 1-1 tie and was Braun’s only hit in four at-bats. He also made a nice play in the field, although I don’t know if it warranted such accolades of the announcer. Scott Feldman did not appear for the Reds.

Danny Valencia hit his eighth, also good for a single run in a one-run loss by the Seattle Mariners (39-41) to the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4. And like Braun, it was his only safety in four trips to the plate. This one tied the game at 3-3.

Kevin Pillar was 1-for-3 for the Toronto Blue Jays (37-40) in the 4-0 whitewash of the visiting Baltimore Orioles. Richard Bleier did not appear for the O’s.

Ian Kinsler was 0-for-4 for the Detroit Tigers (34-43) in an 8-2 loss to visiting KC Royals.

Joc Pederson struck out twice in four at-bats as the LA Dodgers (52-28) lost to the visiting LA Angels, 3-2, on a two-out, walk-off home run.

Alex Bregman did not appear for the Houston Astros (53-26) in their 11-8 win over the visiting Oakland A’s.

Craig Breslow, was placed on the disabled list with a sore shoulder, did not appear for the Minnesota Twins (40-36) in their 4-1 win over the host Boston Red Sox.

# # #

Get your Jewish Baseball News updates via e-mail