Cincinnati, OH (Best E Casino) - Joey Votto and Jay Bruce both homered twice as Cincinnati used the longball to rout Milwaukee, 11-2, in the opener of a three-game set at Great American Ball Park.

The loss by the Brewers also lowered the Chicago Cubs' magic number for clinching a second straight NL Central division title to just one.

Jerry Hairston Jr., Jolbert Cabrera and Andy Phillips also homered for the Reds, who have won five of their past six contests.

Ramon Ramirez (1-0) allowed just two runs on seven hits in six innings to earn his first big league win.

Mike Cameron and Corey Hart each drove in a run for the Brewers, who have dropped seven of eight games and are now two games in back of Philadelphia in the NL wild card race.

Jeff Suppan (10-10) was touched for five runs on five hits in just two innings of work en route to the loss.

The Reds jumped all over Suppan with five runs in the first. Hairston and Wilkin Castillo led off the frame with consecutive singles before Votto drilled his 20th homer of the year over the wall in right. Cabrera kept things going by singling and swiping second before Bruce belted his 20th of the season.

Votto led off the Reds' third by blasting his second homer of the game off Manny Parra.

Cincinnati kept pulling away in the fourth when Hairston belted a one-out, two-run homer to make it a 8-0 game.

The Brewers finally found the scoreboard in the fifth. Craig Counsell drew a walk, moved to second when Jason Kendall was hit by a pitch and advanced to third when Parra grounded into a 4-6-3 double play before scoring on Cameron's single to left.

The Reds bounced right back when Cabrera led off the bottom of the inning with his third homer of the year.

Milwaukee made it 9-2 in the seventh when Ryan Braun singled, moved up 90-feet on a Prince Fielder base hit and crossed the plate on Hart's one-out, run- scoring single.

The home run parade continued for Cincinnati in the sixth when pinch-hitter Phillips led off the frame by crushing his third homer of the year over the fence in center.

Bruce's second homer of the contest put the Reds up 11-2 in the seventh.

Game Notes

This was the third time the Reds have hit seven homers in a game this season...Fielder extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the second inning...Brewers second baseman Ray Durham left the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with a right hamstring injury.