CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds returned home from a disastrous road trip Monday to find the perfect remedy: Chris Narveson and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer and finished with three hits, powering Travis Wood and Cincinnati to a 7-3 victory past Milwaukee.

Paul Janish added two hits and drove in a run for the Reds, who just wrapped a 2-8 trip to Cleveland, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Wood (4-3) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings in the opener of a 10-day, nine-game homestand.

The defending NL Central champions gained a game on the teams ahead of them in the division, the Brewers and first-place St. Louis, which lost at home to San Francisco.

“When you get a chance to catch the teams ahead of you and you do it, it’s nice,” said Bruce, who also tripled for the first time this season and had a single. “We did a good job tonight. I wasn’t overly concerned about the cycle. It is what it is. I just wanted the win.”

Bruce hit his NL-best 16th homer in Cincinnati’s four-run fourth inning. He is batting .405 with six homers and 17 RBI in his past nine games, and .346 with 12 homers and 32 RBI this month.

Manager Dusty Baker wanted to see Bruce complete the cycle.

“I wanted him to get that double out of the way,” Baker said. “It sure is nice to see him hitting. I just hope he accepts what he’s doing and doesn’t wake up.”

The Brewers, who went 8-1 on their previous homestand, dropped to a National League-worst 8-18 (.308) on the road, including 0-4 this season and 1-11 in the past two years in Cincinnati. They are 1-6 against the Reds this season and 4-17 during the past two years, a trend that is starting to disturb manager Ron Roenicke.

“The more things happen on the negative side, the more it gets in your head a bit,” the first-year manager said.

Wood (4-3) struck out two and walked none. He is 3-0 with a 3.33 ERA in four career starts against Milwaukee during the past two years.

“I felt good,” Wood said. “I felt like my pitches were working pretty well. I would like to have gone a little deeper into the game, but I’m glad that I was able to hold them off.”

Jose Arredondo, Nick Masset and Francisco Cordero each pitched an inning to finish it for the Reds.

Bruce tripled and scored on Jonny Gomes’ sacrifice fly in the second against Narveson, who is 0-3 with a 7.06 ERA in six career games against Cincinnati. Two innings later, after Joey Votto’s second walk in as many plate appearances and Scott Rolen’s single, Bruce hit an 0-2 pitch 422 feet into the right-field seats.

Narveson was upset with allowing Rolen, Bruce and Gomes off the hook after getting two strikes on each of them.

“I left a pitch up to all of them,” the left-hander said.

Gomes followed the homer with a double and scored on Janish’s single.

Carlos Gomez and pinch-hitter Josh Wilson homered for Milwaukee, and Ryan Braun also doubled in a run. It was Wilson’s first homer since Sept. 26, 2010, for Seattle at Tampa Bay.

“They hit some pretty good pitches,” Wood said. “Gomez went down and got it. I wanted to throw a cutter in to Wilson and it was in. They just put some good swings on them.”

Narveson (2-4) lasted four innings, allowing five runs and five hits.

The Reds tacked on two more runs in the sixth with help from the Brewers. With two out and runners on first and second, pinch-hitter Fred Lewis had an RBI single and Janish scored on a throwing error by catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

Notes: The Reds’ eight losses on their previous road trip were the most since they lost eight on a 12-game trip from June 20-July 3, 2003. They lost eight games on a 10-game trip for the first time since April 15-25, 1996. … Cincinnati didn’t make it official, but right-hander Chad Reineke is the projected starter today against Milwaukee. The appearance will be his first in the majors since starting for Oakland against Texas on Aug. 5, 2009. Reineke is 5-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 10 games, nine of them starts, with Triple-A Louisville. … Milwaukee right-hander Takashi Saito, on the 60-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, was expected to throw in the bullpen today and three or four more times after that before trying a simulated game, Roenicke said.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy thought a suicide squeeze might be coming. Jonathan Lucroy had no idea.

The catcher’s bases-loaded bunt scored Ryan Braun with one out in the ninth, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-2 victory over San Francisco on Saturday.

“He hasn’t put a bunt down all year and he’s hitting three-something,” Bochy said. “Once you get behind there’s not much you can do. They executed. That was the game there.”

Indeed.

Lucroy’s well-executed bunt was out of the reach of pitcher Guillermo Mota (2-2). Lucroy said he had to take another look at the sign after being told to bunt, but he got it down and Braun easily scored. The Giants saw their winning streak of five straight at Miller Park snapped.

While the Giants still lead the NL West, they’ve had a rough couple of weeks with a 7-7 record and the loss of catcher Buster Posey to what’s likely a season-ending ankle injury. Bochy acknowledged before the game Saturday that Posey’s injury is still weighing on the minds of his players.

Still, San Francisco rallied with two runs in the eighth after failing to figure out Randy Wolf. Wolf didn’t allow a hit until the fifth and pitched into the eighth, leaving two on and one out for reliever Kameron Loe.

Loe got Freddy Sanchez to hit a grounder, but Casey McGehee, at third base, booted it, allowing Andres Torres to come home. Pat Burrell followed with a run-scoring single that tied it 2-all.

But Milwaukee got a double play to end the inning moments later when Cody Ross hit a grounder to short.

“(We) found a way to tie it and had a good opportunity,” Bochy said. “They just got a double-play ball.”

In the bottom of the eighth, the game was delayed 12 minutes after home plate umpire Mark Wegner tore his right calf muscle and needed to be helped off the field.

Carlos Gomez made it 1-0 in the first after a sharp grounder to right.

Ross, in right field, had taken a poor angle to the ball and it rolled under his glove to the wall while Gomez sped around third and easily home for his third homer this year.

The right-field corner of Miller Park is obscured from view and there were no conclusive TV replays of why Ross couldn’t quickly get the ball back to the infield, where he also missed a cutoff throw.

“What happened was I went down to go get it and I whiffed, and it got by me. Error. That’s it,” Ross said. “It went straight to the corner, I picked it up, threw it in. The guy has blazing speed, so I knew it would be tough to get him.”

Jonathan Sanchez, who has struggled with walks all season, had one to Braun cost him in the fourth.

Braun stole second and reached third when catcher Eli Whiteside’s throw hopped past shortstop Emmanuel Burriss. After Sanchez walked Prince Fielder, McGehee’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0.

It’d stay that way until San Francisco’s late rally that proved to be just short.

“We know we’re not a team that relies on putting up a lot of runs,” Bochy said. “Sanchez did a nice job of keeping us in the game. The boys battled back hard.”

NOTES: Giants 2B Freddy Sanchez is one hit away from 1,000. He has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going .417 over the span. … The Giants activated RHP Santiago Casilla (inflamed elbow) and optioned LHP Dan Runzler to Triple-A Fresno. …Burrell struck out in the first, then slammed his bat so hard into the ground it shattered. … The Giants fell to 8-3 when the game is tied after eight innings and 15-6 in games decided by one run.

Jonathan Lucroy’s first game-ending hit in his career at any level went all of about 25 feet.
Lucroy’s pinch-hit, bases-loaded suicide squeeze scored Ryan Braun with one out in the ninth, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a wild 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.
“I’ve had go-ahead hits in the eighth and stuff, but I’ve never had a walkoff, winning hit like that,” Lucroy said. “Never in college, nothing. I’m glad it worked out for us today.”
Lucroy’s well-executed bunt was out of the reach of pitcher Guillermo Mota. Braun easily scored and Lucroy began pumping his fists halfway down the line.
“I’m not that good a bunter,” the second-year catcher said. “I saw him kind of give up on it, and I just started yelling and screaming. I hit first base, then I started getting punched in the kidneys by somebody. It was a fun time.”
Milwaukee is 7-1 on this homestand and 20-7 overall at Miller Park this season, the best home mark in the NL. The Brewers have won 14 of 18, and in different ways — none weirder than this one.
“It says a lot about our team, how we face adversity,” Lucroy said. “We just do anything we can to win. We can hit home runs to beat you. Today, I got the squeeze that way. We find different ways to beat people. With the way our team’s pitching, I think we can give anybody a run for their money.”
Braun and Prince Fielder opened with consecutive singles off Mota (2-2) in the ninth. Casey McGehee’s groundout moved them to scoring position and Lucroy came up after Yuniesky Betancourt was intentionally walked.
“I’ve never been part of a squeeze walkoff. That was awesome,” Fielder said. “It’s just real exciting, if he misses the bunt, everything is messed up. But Lucroy, he got it down. That was awesome. That’s a lot of pressure.”
Carlos Gomez hit an inside-the-park home run and McGehee added a sacrifice to make it 2-0 early, but the Giants rallied with two runs in part because of a McGehee error in the eighth.
John Axford (1-1) pitched the ninth, working around a two-out single by Emmanuel Burriss.
Milwaukee squandered Randy Wolf’s impressive outing after an error led to two runs in the eighth for the Giants. Wolf didn’t allow a hit until the fifth and pitched into the eighth, leaving two on and one out for reliever Kameron Loe
Loe got Freddy Sanchez to hit a grounder, but McGehee, at third base, booted it, allowing Andres Torres to come home. Pat Burrell followed with a run-scoring single that tied it 2-all.
“They battled,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Down two runs, and they found a way to tie and had a good opportunity.”
In the bottom of the inning, the game was delayed 12 minutes after home plate umpire Mark Wegner tore the calf muscle in his right leg and needed to be helped off the field.
Gomez made it 1-0 in the bottom of the first after a sharp grounder to right.
Right fielder Cody Ross had taken a poor angle to the ball and it rolled under his glove to the wall while Gomez sped around third and easily home for his third homer this year.
The right-field corner of Miller Park is obscured from view and there were no conclusive TV replays of why Ross couldn’t quickly get the ball back to the infield, where he also missed a cutoff throw.
“It should not be an inside-the-park home run,” Ross said. “What happened was I went down to go get it and I whiffed, and it got by me. Error. That’s it.”
It was Milwaukee’s first inside-the-park home run since Rickie Weeks’ effort on Aug. 7, 2010, against the Astros and 23rd in franchise history.
Jonathan Sanchez, who has struggled with walks all season, had one to Braun cost him in the fourth.
Braun stole second and reached third when catcher Eli Whiteside’s throw hopped past Burriss, the shortstop. After Sanchez walked Fielder, McGehee’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0.
It’d stay that way until San Francisco’s late rally, but Milwaukee found a way to win again with another aggressive play.
“I like games like that,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “Hopefully we’re in a position where we can do that a few times.”
NOTES: Adrian Johnson will replace Wegner on the crew on Sunday. … Giants 2B Freddy Sanchez is one hit away from 1,000. … The Giants activated RHP Santiago Casilla (inflamed elbow) and optioned LHP Dan Runzler to Triple-A Fresno. … Brewers LHP Zach Braddock (sleep disorder) will pitch in a rehab assignment for three days at Triple-A Nashville beginning Monday. … Brewers RF Corey Hart was out of the starting lineup after being ill following Friday night’s game. … Giants LF Burrell struck out in the first, then slammed his bat so hard into the ground it shattered. … With 42,512 in attendance, it was Miller Park’s sixth sellout this season.