Gomez breaks out in grand fashion vs. Reds

CINCINNATI -- With the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Carlos Gomez said he wasn't focused on hitting the ball out of the park, but that's what he did.

With the Brewers already up 5-0, Gomez put the final nail in the coffin with his first career grand slam off Reds reliever Carlos Contreras. The milestone home run landed in left-field seats, and helped lead the Brewers to a 12-1 victory over the Reds in the series opener at Great American Ball Park.

"No I'm not even thinking [about that] when I go to the plate," Gomez said of looking for his first career grand slam. "I wanted just to drive the ball and bring in more runs. The at-bat before that I hit it good, line drive to the middle, so I wanted to continue to follow that approach so he threw me some changeup, left it right there on the plate and I can pull it. I [didn't] hit it that good, but I pull it perfectly to left field."

While the grand slam was the prized jewel of a memorable night for Gomez, it wasn't his only contribution. Gomez also had an RBI single in the fifth inning and another single in the ninth. He finished the evening 3-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored.

Video: MIL@CIN: Gomez singles in Lucroy to extend the lead

The five RBIs matched a career-high he set on July 12, 2009 against the White Sox while a member of the Twins and matched on Sept.13, 2013 against the Reds.

Despite a recent surge in offense from the Brewers, Gomez had been struggling as of late, hitting only .105 (2-for-19) in his last four games. Brewers manager Craig Counsell said hitting can sometimes be contiguous and Friday was a perfect example of that for Gomez.

"It's his first grand slam tonight so that's always fun for a player," Counsell said. "He started out 0-for-2 then he had three line drives, so if we can get another guy swinging the bat good that'd be great."

Gomez's offensive contribution on Friday helped the Brewers extend their winning streak to six games, the club's longest winning streak since April 2014. During the stretch, the Brewers have scored 45 runs.

Gomez said the recent offensive output has been something the Brewers have been capable of all season, and it's finally starting to click.

"We know and we believe that we can hit," Gomez said. "But the whole year we never put it together like we've been doing the last five, six games. You know when you have that kind of team and you have five, six guys [this team has], you're going to make a lot of runs."