MILWAUKEE -- Prior to getting hot with their winning streak, the Reds were not happy with themselves after back-to-back home losses to the Rangers. Too many times this season, especially last week, the offense was flat or surged too late to matter.

That’s when the players collectively said, “Enough.”

• Box score

“The first two games, they came into our home ballpark and bullied us. They whooped us,” center fielder Nick Senzel said of the Rangers. “There was no energy. There was no other intent to do anything about it. That’s not good. We had to find a way to say, ‘Hey, this ain’t happening anymore.’ That’s what we’re doing.”

That anger and disappointment has manifested into the Reds’ first five-game winning streak thanks to a 7-1 victory over a key division rival, the Brewers, at Miller Park on Thursday.

The win comes on the heels of a three-game sweep of the American League West’s top team, the Astros -- all one-run victories -- and a rout of the Rangers on Sunday. It’s important momentum as the Reds start a stretch of 11 of 13 games that are either against the second-place Brewers or the National League Central-leading Cubs.

“Coming off a huge series against the Astros, that gave us a boost,” said starting pitcher Tanner Roark, who tossed 97 pitches over six innings with one earned run, three hits, no walks, three hit batters and seven strikeouts. “We just keep looking to the next day and keep moving and keep playing together, how we know we can play, and keep trusting each other and not wait on the next guy to do the job. Be that person who does the job.”

This is what it looks like when good Reds hitting supports good Reds pitching on a more consistent basis. Cincinnati, which has the second-best ERA in the NL (3.49) but ranks 14th in hitting (.234), has finally been working in harmony, and it really showed on Thursday.

For Roark, getting run support -- such as four RBIs from José Iglesias, including a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the fifth for a 5-1 lead -- allowed him to challenge hitters and take some chances. Roark opened the fifth by allowing back-to-back singles, but he didn’t dance around dangerous pinch-hitter Jesus Aguilar, who grounded into a double play. Pressure mounted when Lorenzo Cain was hit by a first-pitch fastball to put runners on the corners for red-hot reigning National League MVP Christian Yelich.

Yelich had already crushed a 462-foot solo homer to right field in the fourth inning for the first Milwaukee hit and run of the night against Roark. The veteran right-hander was down in a 3-0 count when facing Yelich again in the fifth. The next pitch was a fastball down in the zone and over the plate for strike one. Another fastball over the heart of the plate was fouled off for strike two. Roark came back with a fastball in on the hands, and Yelich fouled another one. The seventh pitch of the at-bat was Roark’s fifth consecutive fastball; Yelich grounded it toward shortstop, where third baseman Eugenio Suarez was stationed in a defensive shift.

“Challenge him. Be a bully and keep attacking the zone with your best pitch each time. He’s a great hitter,” said Roark, who improved to 5-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 15 starts.

For the fourth straight game, the Reds scored first, taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning as Jimmy Nelson struggled, walking Senzel with the bases loaded. With two outs, Iglesias delivered a bouncing two-run single through the middle.

In the fifth, again with two outs, Nelson hung a 1-0 breaking ball that Iglesias sent to left-center. The drive bounced off the top of the wall and into the Brewers' bullpen.

“It was huge, man. Every run matters. We’re facing a great offensive team,” Iglesias said. “The pitching has been doing a great job all year long. Finally, on offense, we put some good at-bats together and it seems like it’s paying off. We just have to continue to do this on a daily basis.”

Add-on runs came in the seventh, when Senzel hit a two-run homer off the left-field foul pole against Freddy Peralta.

With a 35-38 record and sitting in fourth in the NL Central, the Reds are back to three games under .500 for the first time since May 31. Trailing the Cubs by 5 1/2 games, the Reds are only four games behind Milwaukee, which has lost four in a row, and 2 1/2 behind third-place St. Louis.

“Over the last week or so, there’s a different level of confidence that we’re playing with,” manager David Bell said. “Guys believe that we can play with anyone. I think a lot of it has to do with the tough competition. We played tough, close games. Then realizing what it takes, just that extra little edge to be able to beat a really good team. I think that’s where we are. Every day just trying to get better and then play with that expectation of winning the game no matter who we play.”