CINCINNATI -- The late innings and the Cincinnati Reds have been an adventure this season.

A big early lead and Alfredo Simon's best start of the season helped calm the adventure Thursday night.

Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips hit home runs to stake Cincinnati to a seven-run lead in the second inning, and Simon handled the Milwaukee Brewers over 7 2/3 innings as the Reds won their second game in a row 9-5 on Thursdayat Great American Ball Park.

The win enabled the Reds (12-17) to jump ahead of the Brewers (11-17) and out of last place in the NL Central division. This is the first time Cincinnati has won consecutive games since beating Colorado on April 19-20 to improve to 8-7.

Simon's outing was the longest of the season for a Reds starter, surpassing rookie Robert Stephenson's seven innings in the first of those two wins against Colorado, and kept manager Bryan Price from having to use the team's beleaguered bullpen sooner than he'd like.

Simon (1-3) gave up three runs on seven hits, while striking out five and walking one on 111 pitches. He induced the Brewers to hit into three double plays.

"I used my two-seamer and I attacked the hitter that way to get the ground ball. I was just making good pitches," Simon said. "I haven't thrown a lot of innings and the bullpen has been used a lot. Today I just wanted to go deep into the game. Today, everything came true."

Alex Presley's two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning ended Simon's night. Blake Wood relieved Simon and got the final out of the inning.

J.J. Hoover had a chance to end the Reds bullpen's MLB-record streak of allowing at least one run in team games played at 22, but gave up a lead-off home run to Chris Carter in the ninth.

Hoover gave up one more run on a RBI groundout before ending the game with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Domingo Santana.

"I thought from the inning before that the ball was starting to come up a little bit," Price said of Simon. "We need to make some effort to get him up beyond the 95-pitch threshold and get him to the 105-, 110-pitch area but (Simon) did everything he could."

Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson (1-4) allowed seven runs (six earned) in five innings.

The Reds loaded the bases with their first three batters of the game on a single by Zack Cozart, a double by Billy Hamilton and a walk to Joey Votto. Phillips hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Cozart with the first run of the game.

Bruce didn't wait long to add the next three runs. He drove the first pitch he saw, a hanging curveball, from Anderson deep into the right field stands for his fifth home run of the season, and the 34th of his career against the Brewers.

"It wasn't a great pitch, let's put it that way," Anderson said. "Looking back, I made two or three bad pitches tonight. Other than that, I felt pretty good. When you put your offense behind the 8-ball like I have the last few times, it's hard to score runs."

The Reds added another run in the first inning on a two-base throwing error by Brewers' shortstop Jonathan Villar on a ground ball by Adam Duvall, who scored on Tucker Barnhart's single to center.

Phillips gave the Reds a 7-0 lead in the second inning with his third home run of the season.

Simon, who had not gone past four innings in any of his last four starts, faced the minimum through the first four. He allowed singles to Aaron Hill in the third inning and Alex Presley in the fourth but both were erased on double plays.

Hill got Milwaukee on the board in the fifth inning with a two-out RBI single to make it a 7-1 score.

Anderson retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced,

"His last three innings were encouraging," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell. "We need Chase. It's important that we get him going."

Duvall hit a two-run home run in the eighth to give the Reds a 9-3 lead.

NOTES: Brewers RHP Wily Peralta will miss his scheduled start on Friday after going on paternity leave. His wife gave birth to a girl on Thursday morning. Tyler Cravy will be called up from Triple-A Colorado Springs?on Friday and make his first start of the season. ... Brewers OF Domingo Santana did not start for the third time in the last four game due to tightness in his right shoulder. He pinch hit in the ninth inning, striking out to end the game. ... The Brewers claimed LHP Michael Kirkman on waivers from San Diego. He was designated for assignment on Monday after making one appearance for the Padres, allowing four runs in 1 1/3 innings. ... Reds RHP Raisel Iglesias is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list on May 11, but manager Bryan Price said it's unlikely that Iglesias will be ready to be activated at that time. ... Reds CF Billy Hamilton returned to the starting lineup after jamming his left thumb on Tuesday. He entered Wednesday's game in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement.