CINCINNATI (Interstat) — Brandon Sproat pitched six shutout innings and Trevor Megill earned his 10th save as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 2-0 on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.

The Brewers improved to 48-29, extending their lead in the National League Central, while the Reds fell to 37-41. Milwaukee won for the second straight night after a 2-1, 10-inning victory Monday.

Sproat allowed two hits and struck out seven across six innings. He walked none. The right-hander improved to 2-4. Megill worked a perfect ninth inning for his 10th save, striking out one.

Julian Garcia took the loss in his first major league start, though the Reds’ bullpen held Milwaukee to two runs over five innings. Garcia went four innings, allowing two hits, walking two and striking out six.

The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning. Andrew Vaughn drew a one-out walk against Garcia. Jake Bauers then tripled to right field on a ground ball that got past Reds right fielder Noelvi Marte, scoring Vaughn and putting Milwaukee ahead 1-0. Bauers’ triple was his first of the season.

Milwaukee added an insurance run in the eighth. Brice Turang singled to center field off reliever Chase Petty. William Contreras followed with a single to right, moving Turang to third. Andrew Vaughn then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Turang for a 2-0 lead.

The Reds managed just two hits in the game. Nathaniel Lowe singled in the second and Jose Trevino singled in the sixth. Cincinnati went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base.

Blake Dunn, the Reds’ center fielder, went 0 for 4 with a strikeout. Sal Stewart struck out three times in three at-bats. Noelvi Marte went 0 for 3. JJ Bleday went 0 for 2 with a hit by pitch. Edwin Arroyo went 0 for 3, and Eugenio Suarez went 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

The Reds’ bullpen worked efficiently but could not overcome the lack of offense. Pierce Johnson threw two-thirds of an inning, allowing no hits and striking out two. Caleb Ferguson gave up one hit in two-thirds of an inning. Petty allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out three over two innings.

Milwaukee’s offense managed only five hits. Turang had two hits, a stolen base and scored a run. Contreras had a single and a walk. Jackson Chourio singled and walked. Vaughn walked twice and drove in a run. Bauers had the triple and a walk.

The Brewers struck out 14 times but drew five walks. They went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position but made the hits count.

The most important part of the game came in the top of the sixth inning. With the score tied at 0, Vaughn worked a walk off Garcia. Bauers then drove a 1-2 pitch into the right-field corner. Marte fielded the ball but could not make a play at the plate as Vaughn scored easily. The triple broke a string of 14 consecutive scoreless innings by the Reds’ pitching staff dating to the previous night. Milwaukee’s bullpen then protected the lead with three scoreless innings.

The Reds’ best scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the eighth. Lowe singled off reliever Elvis Peguero with one out. Eugenio Suarez struck out. Then Noelvi Marte grounded into a double play, third baseman Joey Ortiz to second baseman Brice Turang to first baseman Andrew Vaughn, ending the threat.

Milwaukee had won three of its last four entering the game, including a 9-4 victory at Atlanta on Sunday. The Reds had won two of their last three, beating the New York Yankees 4-1 on Sunday.

The Brewers’ season series with the Reds now stands at 2-0, with two more games remaining in Cincinnati this week. Milwaukee plays at Cincinnati again Wednesday before returning home to face the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

Cincinnati travels to Pittsburgh on Friday for a three-game series against the Pirates, then heads to Milwaukee for a four-game set starting Monday.

The Interstat game simulator had projected a final score of Milwaukee 5, Cincinnati 4. The Interstat ELO system gave Milwaukee a 61.90 percent probability to win. Milwaukee was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 2 went over the over-under line of 9.5.