CINCINNATI (Interstat) — The Milwaukee Brewers built an early lead, withstood a late rally and secured a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park before an announced crowd of 22,981.

The Brewers jumped to a 3-0 lead in the third inning when William Contreras hit a two-run home run to center field and Jake Bauers followed with a solo shot to right center. The inning represented the first of two three-run outbursts for Milwaukee, which added three more in the seventh to extend its advantage to 6-1. But the Reds answered with a run in the sixth, another in the seventh and three in the eighth, pulling within a run before the Brewers’ bullpen closed the door in the ninth.

Milwaukee’s Chad Patrick earned the win, improving to 5-3, after allowing one run on five hits over four innings of relief. Joel Kuhnel recorded his sixth save of the season, retiring four of the five batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings. Rhett Lowder took the loss for Cincinnati, falling to 3-5, after giving up three earned runs on eight hits in 5⅔ innings with six strikeouts.

The Brewers improved to 49-29, while the Reds dropped to 37-42.

Shane Drohan started for Milwaukee and delivered a dominant outing in his return to the rotation. The left-hander threw 4⅓ innings, allowing five hits and no earned runs while striking out five. Drohan’s effort marked a sharp rebound from two consecutive losses, including a start against Philadelphia on June 13 in which he surrendered four earned runs. He retired the side in order in the first, worked around a two-out double in the second and induced a double play to escape a jam in the third. Drohan exited after allowing a leadoff single in the fifth, but the bullpen preserved his line.

Contreras led the Milwaukee offense, going 3 for 3 with a home run, two RBIs, a walk and an intentional walk. The catcher singled in the first, homered in the third, singled again in the fifth and drew a free pass in the ninth. Bauers also homered, his 14th of the season, and finished 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI. Andrew Vaughn delivered the pivotal hit of the game, a three-run double in the seventh that broke the game open.

For Cincinnati, Spencer Steer went 2 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs, including a two-run shot in the eighth that capped the Reds’ rally. Eugenio Suárez added two hits and drove in a run. Blake Dunn doubled and drove in a run in the sixth.

The game’s most critical sequence unfolded in the seventh inning. With the Brewers leading 3-1, Brice Turang led off with a triple to deep left field. After an intentional walk to Contreras and a walk to Bauers loaded the bases, Vaughn, pinch-hitting for Garrett Mitchell, stroked a ground-rule double into the left-field corner, clearing the bases and giving Milwaukee a 6-1 cushion. The hit proved essential when the Reds scored four runs over the next two innings.

Cincinnati’s comeback began in the sixth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Dunn doubled to right field, scoring Noelvi Marte and trimming the deficit to 3-1. The Reds added another run in the seventh on Suárez’s double to left that brought home Sal Stewart, making it 6-2.

The Reds mounted their strongest threat in the eighth. Edwin Arroyo singled and advanced to second on a fielding error by right fielder Sal Frelick. Elly De La Cruz walked, and after a groundout moved both runners into scoring position, Sal Stewart grounded out to shortstop, scoring Arroyo and sending De La Cruz to third. Steer then crushed a 1-0 pitch to center field for a home run, his 13th, pulling the Reds within 6-5. Suárez was hit by a pitch, but Noelvi Marte grounded out to end the inning.

Kuhnel took over in the ninth and retired the first batter before allowing a single and a walk to put two runners on. With one out and the bases loaded after a fielder’s choice, De La Cruz walked to force in a run, but Kuhnel induced Dane Myers to ground into a double play, shortstop Cooper Pratt to second baseman Brice Turang to first baseman Jake Bauers, to end the game.

The Brewers’ win completed a three-game sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati. Milwaukee had won 2-0 on Tuesday and 2-1 in 10 innings on Monday. The sweep extended the Brewers’ winning streak to three games after they split a four-game series in Atlanta and dropped two of three at home to Cleveland.

Cincinnati has now lost four straight and five of its last six. The Reds managed only two runs in the series after scoring just one in the first two games combined.

Both teams finished with 11 hits, and the game lasted 3 hours, 22 minutes.

Milwaukee will return home to host the Chicago Cubs on Friday in the start of a three-game series. The Reds travel to Pittsburgh for a three-game weekend set against the Pirates before hosting the Brewers next week at American Family Field.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Milwaukee 6, Cincinnati 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Milwaukee a 62.40 percent probability of winning. The Brewers were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 11 runs went under the over-under line of nine.