Without fans in the ballparks this season, the only partisans who have allowed themselves to be heard celebrating big moments have been the grounds crews.

In Cincinnati on Monday night, the Reds opened a big series against the Brewers. The teams came in with .500 records -- 27-27 for Cincinnati, 26-26 for Milwaukee -- with the Reds in possession of the eighth and final playoff spot in the National League and the Brewers poised to take it from them.

So when Mike Moustakas hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to turn a 3-1 lead into a 6-1 cushion, the Great American Ball Park field crew did its best to be heard. A woman wearing moose antlers pounded a tambourine while three of her male counterparts used drumsticks to bang on a plastic bucket -- that one of them was wearing.

But it wasn't all frivolities for the crew. With two down in the top of the ninth, a foul ball ricocheted off the stands and rolled out into right field. One of the grounds crew members hopped over the wall and sprinted after it. "Decent sprint speed out there, look at that," an announcer on the Brewers broadcast said.

The only problem there was that he, uh, didn't stick the landing getting back into the stands. And the batter, Jace Peterson, hit a two-run homer three pitches later to cut the Brewers' deficit. But the Reds held on, winning 6-3, with Moustakas' home run proving to be the difference.

So maybe any headache that grounds crew member with the bucket on his head received was worth it.