MILWAUKEE -- Considering how hard he worked for six tough innings against the Reds on Sunday, Brandon Woodruff earned a true All-Star break.

The Brewers' right-hander scattered nine hits -- a season high and tied for the second most he’s allowed in his career -- but limited the damage to one run and capped a sensational first half with a no-decision as the Brewers reached the break with a 3-1 loss to the Reds at American Family Field on Sunday.

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Cincinnati pulled within four games of first-place Milwaukee by winning the final three games of the four-game series, scoring off one of Woodruff’s fellow All-Stars, Josh Hader, in the ninth inning on both days over the weekend. Sunday’s go-ahead rally began with Hader’s first pitch hitting Eugenio Suárez, who had homered off Hader the night before, and culminated with Nick Castellanos’ two-out, two-run single that dropped the Brewers to 53-39 as the first half of the season came to a close.

Hader rode a 0.55 ERA and a streak of 17 scoreless appearances through the end of June, but he has yielded runs in three of his first four outings in July.

“I think he still looks unbelievable,” said Woodruff. “That's the thing -- when you're so good, people expect you to do crazy things every time you go out and pitch. That's just how it is.”

Woodruff is performing to a similar standard. His 2.06 ERA is the second-best mark in Brewers history for a qualifying pitcher at the All-Star break, just shy of Bill Travers’ 1.91 ERA in 1976 and just ahead of Ben Sheets’ 2.26 ERA in 2004. Travers and Sheets were All-Stars those years, just like Woodruff, though the 28-year-old will enjoy this year’s festivities in Denver as a fan due to the rule that precludes Sunday starters from pitching in the Midsummer Classic two days later.

It’s been lined up that way for a while now, and Woodruff, who previously pitched in the All-Star Game in 2019, said last week that he was happy to be a spectator.

“I’ll be honest … it’s nice not having to worry about throwing,” Woodruff said. “That first one, the only break you really get during the whole time is during the game when you’re sitting in the bullpen and kind of relaxing. Other than that, it’s full go. It’s such a fun, cool experience, but it kind of wears you out a little bit. If I’m able to sit there and watch and enjoy it, that’s good enough for me.”

Let the first-timers pitch, Woodruff said. The Brewers have two of them in Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta -- the latter of whom was named as a replacement for Woodruff. On Sunday, he said it was time for a rest -- both physically and mentally.

“I’m going to go, I'm going to have fun, I'm going to decompress a little bit and just hang out with the family and my friends and take it all in, and just enjoy,” Woodruff said. “Then get ready for the second half.”

Woodruff has earned it. He’s fourth in the National League with 113 1/3 innings pitched, and among qualifiers, he ranks third in ERA and WHIP (0.82), fourth in opponents’ average (.169) and ninth with a 29.9 percent strikeout rate.

With Woodruff leading the way since his start against the Twins in Milwaukee’s season opener, the Brewers reached the break with a 3.44 ERA, sixth best in the NL and third best in franchise history for a first half. The only years Milwaukee had a lower ERA at the break were 1971 (3.06) and 1988 (3.36).

But the Reds gave Woodruff a good fight. After a groundout to start the game, Jesse Winker singled, Castellanos doubled and Joey Votto singled for a quick 1-0 lead before Woodruff induced a Tyler Stephenson double play to stop the inning there. Cincinnati also had multiple hits off Woodruff in the second and the fourth, but he kept the score at 1-0 until the Brewers tied it in the bottom of the sixth on Jackie Bradley Jr.’s two-out single.

That was all they mustered. The Brewers were held to four total runs while losing the last three games of the series.

“Obviously, we know we need to hit better,” Bradley said.

In assessing his own first half, Woodruff keyed on two concepts.

One, he’s healthy. Two, he’s been consistent.

“I would say ‘consistently great,’ because it's a little bit more than just consistent,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “He continues to go out and get at least six innings. Like today, he doesn't always have his best stuff, but he continues to put up zeros. … I think he's being a little modest there. It's been an incredible first half for him.”

The second half begins with more Reds-Brewers on Friday in Cincinnati.

“I think if you sat back at the beginning of the season and said, ‘Hey, at the All-Star break you’ll be in first place,’ nobody’s going to say no to that,” Bradley said. “Obviously we didn’t make the gap bigger, but we’re in first place and we’re going to focus on the second half when it gets here.”