MILWAUKEE -- Wily Peralta certainly didn't have his best stuff, but the Milwaukee Brewers' offense more than made up for it in a 9-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday afternoon at Miller Park.

Peralta gave up four solo home runs, including a pair to right fielder Scott Schebler, but struck out seven over five-plus innings to earn his first victory of the season.

The first homer came with two outs in the first as Joey Votto took Peralta yard to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.

Milwaukee responded in a big way in the bottom of the inning, scoring five on Cincinnati right-hander Rookie Davis, who allowed seven hits and a sac fly to open the game, just the third outing of his big league career.

"What they put into play ended up falling in for base hits," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "He (Davis) didn't have his great stuff. They were able to do some things especially when they were ahead in the count."

Ryan Braun tagged Davis for a two-run double, part of a two-hit day, Jett Bandy and Travis Shaw added RBI singles and Orlando Arcia drove in another with a double during the inning. Bandy led the team with three hits. Jonathan Villar, Shaw and Arcia also finished with two hits. Arcia belted his second home run of the season.

"We did a great job," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "Our first eight guys had very productive at-bats, quality at-bats and did something positive with each at-bat. It is good to see. We've done a nice job of that against some young starting pitchers and some good starting pitchers, too. It is obviously a good formula for success."

Even with a bumper crop of runs, Peralta (4-1) kept things interesting, allowing four home runs in five-plus innings of work while giving up eight hits and a pair of walks.

"I made a couple of good pitches that they put good swings on," Peralta said. "Two of those four home runs that I gave up I made good pitches down in the zone. Credit to them. We scored a bunch of runs, and that is always a good way to pitch, when you have the lead early. "

But those homers weren't enough to climb out of the hole dug by Davis, who allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.

Votto put the Reds on the board with his seventh homer of the season. Milwaukee led 8-1 when Adam Duvall led off the fourth with his second home run in as many games and two batters later, Schebler hit his first of the day to make it an 8-3 game.

"Timing is everything," Price said. "You can't consistently dig yourself out of some of the deficits that we had to deal with here lately."

Milwaukee got a run back in the bottom of the frame on an RBI double from Bandy and Schebler stuck again in the sixth.

NOTES: The Brewers have outscored their opponents 27-8 in the first inning this season after taking a 5-1 lead in the first Wednesday against Cincinnati. ... Milwaukee has held a lead on 21 of its 23 games this season, including each of the last 16 contests. ... The Reds optioned OF Phillip Ervin to Triple-A Louisville Wednesday, clearing a spot for RHP Rookie Davis to be brought off the disabled list for the start against the Brewers. Ervin appeared in three games for the Reds and went hitless in a pair of at-bats. ... Reds manager Bryan Price said he expects C Stuart Turner to remain on the roster when Devin Mesoraco is activated from the disabled list Friday, leaving the team with three catchers on the roster. A Rule V pick from the Twins last winter, Turner must spend the entire season on the Reds' big league roster or be offered back to Minnesota. ... Brewers 1B Eric Thames had to leave the game in the seventh inning with an apparent left hamstring injury. Thames had a single and two walks Wednesday but failed to hit a home run for the first time in seven games against the Reds this season. With a scheduled day off Thursday, manager Craig Counsell expects to have Thames back in the starting lineup Friday against Atlanta.