Weeks: Opening series a ‘wake-up call’

In a season-opening matchup of the defending National League Central champion Reds and a Brewers club out to unseat them, it was a clean sweep for the champs.

The Reds rallied in the ninth inning to win Game 1, out-pitched the Brewers in Game 2 and out-slugged them in Game 3, a sweep-clinching, 12-3 win on Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

“It’s a wake-up call, really,” Brewers leadoff man Rickie Weeks said.

Weeks hit his second leadoff home run in three games and drove in a pair of runs for Milwaukee, and Ryan Braun hit a solo homer, but the Brewers are 0-3 heading into Monday’s home opener against the Braves.

The Reds, meanwhile, are 3-0 after hitting four more home runs on Sunday, including two from catcher Ryan Hanigan and three-run homers from Hanigan and second baseman Brandon Phillips. Three games into a long season, manager Dusty Baker’s club looks very formidable in its bid to repeat as division champs.

“That’s a good team, but I think we’re the better team,” Weeks said. “That’s just the way it is. [Series like this] are part of the game and it’s a wake-up call, but we’re going to play better.”

This is not the way manager Ron Roenicke wanted to begin his tenure, but he did not need to say anything to his players after Sunday’s loss.

He sees better days ahead, too.

“They didn’t miss anything,” Roenicke said of the Reds. “I mean, every time we made a mistake, they hit it. … They are a very good team, but I still think that when we’re playing the game I know we’re capable of playing, I think we match-up with anybody.

“Hey, [Brewers players] are fine. They’ll be OK. It’s a long season, and if this three-game stretch happens in the second month, nobody’s thinking that much about it. The guys were coming out of Spring Training feeling pretty good, and I was feeling good. We can’t lose that feeling because of three games.”

Baker’s Reds were feeling much better.

“We beat a very good ball club,” Baker said. “It was close for a while and our offense took over. It was just a big weekend. Any time you start the season 3-0 against a team you know is going to be there at the end, that’s always a big boost for you.”

Said losing pitcher Randy Wolf, who allowed 10 hits in four innings: “We definitely don’t want to start off the way we did. Personally, I don’t want to start off the season the way I did. But the main thing is keeping our heads on straight and understand we are a good team.”

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