The Brewers needed a big hit with a runner in scoring position, and one of their unlikeliest heroes delivered. Joey Ortiz, the defensive wizard who has slumped so badly at the plate for parts of the past three seasons that he lost hold of starting shortstop duties earlier this month, hit a two-out, two-run home run in the eighth inning on Monday to beat the Reds, 5-3, at American Family Field and provide an example of what can happen when you keep swinging. “To see Joey come through like that, man, that was amazing,” said Brewers closer Trevor Megill, who made Ortiz’s home run stand up by breezing through the ninth. “He forgot to acknowledge the bullpen, but we’ll let that slide.” You’ll have to forgive Ortiz for not saluting toward the outfield as he rounded second base, because he hasn’t had many opportunities to make that trot in recent years. He stepped to the plate against just-summoned Reds reliever Tejay Antone with a .196 batting average and one home run for the season after an 0-for-3 start to his night that included two empty at-bats with runners in scoring position. That has been a big problem of late for the Brewers, who were 1-for-8 in the game, 6-for-36 on the homestand and 7-for-65 with runners in scoring position over parts of the past eight games since their eight-run second inning in Atlanta on June 21 as Ortiz dug into the batter’s box. It had become such an issue that manager Pat Murphy attended the pre-series hitters meeting on Monday to deliver a message -- not to order hitters to get clutch hits. That’s not how it works at this level. But rather to encourage them to return to the disciplined process that made the Brewers such a tough out over the past few years. “I wasn’t real nice,” Murphy said. “We talked about, ‘Don’t worry about the result. Play with an edge every game.’”
