MILWAUKEE -- The Cincinnati Reds offence had a tough time against Kyle Lohse on Friday night. Noah Vonleh Jersey . The Brewers starter retired 23 consecutive batters at one point and finished with a four-hitter, and Carlos Gomez went 3 for 4 with 5 RBIs, lifting the Brewers to a 5-1 win. The Reds wild-card lead dropped to 4 1/2 games over the surging Washington Nationals, who have won seven straight games. Ryan Ludwick lost a ball in the lights that went for a key double, and two of Gomezs singles were bloop hits. The Reds struggled against Lohse, but had some hard-hit balls hit directly to infielders. "We hit the ball, actually, better than they did," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. Gomez had a two-run single in the first, an RBI single in the third and a two-RBI single in the seventh to account for all of Milwaukees runs. The Brewers centre fielder was coming off a tough road trip, batting .150, and had hit only .116 against the Reds this season coming into the game. "I guess that was his night when things like that happen over and over," Baker said. "But we didnt help ourselves on the defensive side of the ball and with walks." There was not a lot of luck involved in Lohses fine performance. Cincinnati had three consecutive singles to open the second, but then had 23 batters in a row retired before Jay Bruce walked with two outs in the ninth. "Pitching a game like this as a spoiler -- it feels good," Lohse said. "Youve got to look at it as your playoff situation. "These guys are more than likely going to be in the playoffs," he said. "Were not going to knock them out or anything. But to be able to go out there and pitch against a playoff-calibre team, it makes you feel good. That lineup can swing it quite a bit." The Reds have dropped three of four. "We made some hard outs, but youve got to give him a little bit of credit," Ludwick said. "He missed a lot of bats tonight. He had a lot of balls off the end of the bat." Lohse (10-9) started the season 1-6 after missing most of spring training, signing with the Brewers as a free agent on March 25. Since the slow start, he has gone 9-3. After allowing three consecutive singles to open the second, Lohse recorded an out on Devin Mesoracos RBI fielders choice grounder to third. "He had a little trouble there in the second, but he really threw the ball well all game and even got better the later we got in the game," Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. Lohse, who went 30-11 for St. Louis over two seasons in 2011-12, walked one and struck out five. He rebounded from a poor outing in his last start, where he allowed seven runs in five innings in an 8-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 6. Reds starter Mat Latos (14-6) allowed five runs -- the most he has given up since the All-Star break -- and seven hits and three walks while striking out four in 6 2/3 innings. "Its just one of those days where you just have to hit the reset button and go after them again the next time you go out," Latos said. Norichika Aoki led off the first with a four-pitch walk. One out later, Ludwick appeared to lose sight of Jonathan Lucroys sharp liner to left field, and it went by him to the wall for a double. Aramis Ramirez was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Gomez hit a bloop single to right, scoring Aoki and Lucroy to make it 2-0. Ludwick, Jack Hannahan and Zack Cozart had consecutive singles to open the second, and Mesoraco grounded into a fielders choice to third that scored Ludwick. Latos hit a sacrifice bunt to move Mesoraco to second, but Shin-Soo Choo struck out to end the inning. The Reds were retired in order in each inning until Bruces walk in the ninth. Milwaukee loaded the bases in the seventh, and Gomez hit a two-run single off reliever J.J. Hoover to make it 5-1. Notes: Gomez also had five RBIs on July 12, 2009, while with Minnesota against the Chicago White Sox. ... Ramirez was removed after the first inning after being hit by a pitch from Latos. The team said he suffered a contusion on his left wrist and was day to day. Tony Campbell Jersey . Jim Leyland, in his eighth playoffs, has never had a starting rotation he trusts as much as the grouping of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister. Kevin Love Jersey . -- John Fox will coach the Denver Broncos from the sideline and not the booth upon his return Sunday five weeks after heart surgery. https://www.cheaptimberwolves.com/590j-sam-mitchell-jersey-timberwolves.html . Wayne and Cindy Tuck of Ilderton, Ont., closed out round-robin play earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Finland but needed a win over Austria to reach the final eight.CINCINNATI - Four minutes were left when Peyton Manning took the field to try to lead his 51st game-winning drive. Plenty of time for the Broncos to pull it out.One bad throw brought the playoffs into sharper focus.Dre Kirkpatrick returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown with 2:41 to go, then picked off Manning again in the close seconds to secure a 37-28 victory on Monday night that put the Cincinnati Bengals back in the playoffs.Cincinnati (10-4-1) will play in Pittsburgh next Sunday night, with the winner getting the AFC North title. The loser gets a wild card. The Bengals will have one thing in their favour: Finally breaking out of their prime time funk.The Bengals got blown out in their two previous night games this season and were 18-41 all-time in prime time, including 10-20 on Monday nights. This one was particularly soothing.Until we had a win like this, people kept saying we couldnt win in prime time, said Andy Dalton, who is only 3-6 in prime time and 0-3 in the playoffs. So it was big for us to get this win. Regardless of what people were saying, this win meant more because it got us into the playoffs.The Broncos (11-4) were already there as AFC West champions. They could have clinched a first-round bye with a win on Monday. Instead, New England got home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Denver can still clinch the No. 2 seed by beating Oakland at home.Its disappointing, said Manning, who threw a season-high four interceptions. We had an opportunity to win this game tonight. We would have preferred that. We have another opportunity next week.Some things learned at Paul Brown Stadium:ABOUT THOSE PLAYOFFS: Cincinnatis four straight playoff appearances are a franchise first. Cincinnati hasnt won a playoff game since the 1990 season, tied for the sixth-longest streak of futility in NFL history. Theyre 0-5 in the post-season since then, with all of the losses coming under coach Marvin Lewis.HILL IS SOME ROOKIE: Jeremy Hill ran for 147 yards against the NFLs second-ranked run defence, including an 85-yard touchdown for Cincinnatis first points. Naz Reid Jersey. He became the 10th Bengals player to run for 1,000 in a season. According to STATS, Hill is the third rookie in NFL history to rush for 140 yards four times in a season, joining Eric Dickerson (1983) and Curtis Martin (1995).ANOTHER DALTON MISFIRE: Dalton threw too high to A.J. Green on Cincinnatis second series, resulting in an interception that Aqib Talib returned 33 yards for a touchdown. It was a reminder of Daltons penchant for being off-target in the big games. The Bengals made sure Dalton spent much of the game handing it off or throwing short passes — 14 of his 17 completions went to a tight end or running back.IMPERFECT PEYTON: Manning was 8-0 against Cincinnati coming into the game, throwing for 20 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He had nearly that many on Monday night, throwing a season-high four. The showing raised more questions about the quarterback, who missed much of practice last week with a strained right thigh.It wasnt good, said Manning, who was 28 of 44 for 311 yards with two touchdowns. With four interceptions, youre not going to beat many good football teams.NOTEWORTHY: Broncos safety T.J. Ward left in the fourth quarter with a neck injury. Hell be reevaluated in Denver. ... Green bruised his right biceps when he was hit on Talibs interception return. He was in and out of the lineup for the rest of the game and finished without a catch for only the second time in his career. ... Demaryius Thomas set a Broncos record with his ninth 100-yard receiving game. He also joined Marvin Harrison and Jerry Rice as the only players with three straight seasons of 1,400 yards receiving and 10 TD catches. ... The Bengals started Eric Winston at right tackle for the first time since they signed him on Dec. 2. Cincinnati rushed for 207 yards, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.___Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '