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MILWAUKEE — Question: How can a pitcher hold a team to one hit over five-plus innings, leave with a one-run lead and not win?

Answer: Pitch for the Cincinnati Reds.

Josh Fogg knows that now, after he held the Milwaukee Brewers to one hit and ended up with nothing more than some pats on the butt from his teammates.

The Reds did win, 6-5, scoring the winning run on a wild pitch in front of 41,229 in sold-out Miller Park.

Yes, it was that kind of game. They scored a run in the fifth without benefit of a hit. They scored the tying run in the eighth on a fly ball missed by an outfielder.

The Brewers made three errors. The only thing the Brewers didn't do was include a greeting card with the gift victory they sent the Reds.

It was Fogg's second straight solid start since spending an inordinate amount of time on the disabled list with a back that recovered long before he was permitted to come back.

He made five rehab starts in the minors to prove his back strong enough for the rigors of the majors and has made the most of it.

He made three starts earlier this season and was 1-2 with a 13.09 ERA, then handed a hall pass to the bullpen, where he wasn't used much.

In his last two starts he has pitched 11 1/3 innings, giving up four runs and seven hits.

"The key to my success is I've been getting ahead of hitters," said Fogg. 'If I'm falling behind, it's going to be a long night.

"I didn't get in the groove early-on, didn't have enough starts to get in the groove," he said. "I got taken out after three starts and didn't have a role in the bullpen and wasn't really utilized.

"To be able to go down and get those five starts in the minors on rehab was big for me. I got my command back got in my groove on the mound," he said.

Milwaukee manager Ned Yost had his own assessment: "Josh Fogg took advantage of a very liberal strike zone (by plate umpire Andy Fletcher)."

Fogg held the Brewers to one hit for five-plus innings and was removed.

Why?

The one hit was a two-out, 0-and-2 first-inning home run to Ryan Braun, then Fogg opened the sixth by hitting Rickie Weeks and walking J.J. Hardy on 3-and-2.

He struck out Braun on a 3-and-2 pitch, then manager Dusty Baker turned to lefty Bill Bray to face Prince Fielder and it worked. Bray struck out Fielder.

But Bray against right-hander Corey Hart didn't work because Hart blooped a checked-swing double down the right-field line to tie the score, 2-2.

Then the brain cells began smoldering. Yost sent up Reds-ripper Bill Hall to pinch-hit and Baker countered by bringing in right-hander Gary Majewski.

That didn't work well at all for the Reds — Hall drilled a two-run double over Ken Griffey Jr.'s head in right to push the Brewers in front, 4-2, and former Red Mike Cameron singled home a fifth run.

The Reds scored three in the seventh, tying it when Cameron lost Jerry Hairston Jr.'s ball in the lights and it skidded away off his glove as Andy Phillips scored.

With the go-ahead run on third, Griffey struck out and Brandon Phillips flied to right.

The Reds loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and when relief pitcher Salomon Torres retired pinch-hitter Adam Dunn on a fielder's choice, it looked as if he might get out of it — until he threw a wild pitch with Hairston batting, enabling Jay Bruce to score the winning run.

Reds closer Francisco Cordero was treated like the bum at the banquet, showered with boos as he walked to the mound for the ninth, the fans remembering him for turning is back on $43 million from the Brewers to sign a $46 million deal with the Reds.

Cordero put the tying run on base with a one-out walk to Mike Cameron, then retired the final two for his 19th save.

"I look at that in every way," said Cordero of the reception as he laughed. "I know what's going on. I know why they do it. It gets me excited and gets me even more into the game to do my job. It's special. They're upset because I'm not coming out of the bullpen in a Brewers uniform."

The victory went to relief pitcher Mike Lincoln, his first in the majors since he beat Philadelphia on April 24, 2003 — the last year he pitched before two Tommy John surgeries benched him for four years.

"That's cool," said Baker. "He wasn't excited. We were all more excited than he was."

He has had a long time to think about it.