MILWAUKEE -- Rookie to rookie, Brewers center fielder Joey Wiemer told Reds phenom Elly De La Cruz, “Not today!”

That was Lorenzo Cain’s mantra when he was robbing homers for the Brewers, and on Monday, it was Wiemer’s turn. He started a critical series between the National League Central’s top two teams with a terrific defensive play when Cruz led off the game with a deep drive that flew a Statcast-projected 405 feet. Wiemer felt his way back to the wall, leaped and pulled it back.

"As soon as it was hit," said right fielder Sal Frelick, who played alongside Wiemer in the Minors, "I knew it was going over the fence, and I knew he was going to bring it back. I've seen that happen too many times, so I knew it was going to happen."

That play helped Brewers starter Colin Rea work a 1-2-3 opening inning, and the final series of the season between these division rivals was off and running. Christian Yelich and Milwaukee went on to walk it off, winning 3-2.

De La Cruz had something of his own to say when he batted again two innings later and drilled a go-ahead, two-run home run that sailed over Wiemer’s head and way over the right-center-field wall for a 2-1 Reds lead. At a Statcast-projected 456 feet, it was the longest home run at American Family Field since the Phillies’ Bryce Harper hit one 460 feet last June 9.

Wiemer went into Monday night with a modest .678 OPS but has manned center field on an everyday basis because of his defense. He leads all Major League center fielders in Statcast’s Fielding Run Value metric and ranks fourth in fielder runs, a metric that grades outfielders in how well they prevent runners from taking extra bases.

“I’ve been happy with the defense, but I got to get back on the horse at the plate," Wiemer said. "I know that, and I think a lot of people know that. So, we’ll keep working at it.”

The Brewers have been working for weeks to generate more offense, but after a promising finish to the first half, they've scored more than four runs only once in the first 10 games since the All-Star break, topping out at five runs in a win at Philadelphia last week. Despite that, they are 7-3 since the break and lead the NL Central by 1 1/2 games over the Reds.

"We need plays like that to win games," manager Craig Counsell said. "We're making defensive plays to win games. [Third baseman Andruw] Monasterio had a really nice double play.

"We're making choices to put defensive players out there, and we feel like we're putting a lot of really good defensive players out there. You don't know who the guy is who's going to make the play, but you feel like there's going to be somebody."