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MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Brandon Phillips finally knows what it feels like to hit a grand slam.

"That was my first ever grand slam. I never even hit one in little league," Phillips said. "It really felt good. I just have to find someone to give the ball to other than myself."

Phillips, a career .216 hitter, also had his first two-homer game to help the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 12-8 on Thursday night.

Trailing 6-2, the Reds scored 10 straight runs to make it 12-6, including five in the sixth capped when Phillips, who was acquired by the Reds from Cleveland for cash or a player to be named later on April 7, hit his two-out grand slam off reliever Mike Adams.

"I was just trying to make contact and put that ball in play," Phillips said. "When you do that, nice things can happen."

Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer in the fifth off Brewers reliever Justin Lehr (1-1), who had just entered for starter Tomo Ohka, to give the Reds a 7-6 lead, Cincinnati's first advantage since it was 2-0 in the second.

Encarnacion and Phillips, the seventh and eighth hitters, combined to go 4-for-8 with nine RBI and five runs.

Milwaukee scored two runs in the eighth to make it 12-8. Chad Moeller hit a homer off Matt Belisle (1-0) and Carlos Lee drove in his 16th run of the season with an RBI single. With the bases loaded, reliever Todd Coffey struck out Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder to end the threat.

"We had Rickie and Prince both up there," manager Ned Yost said. "Any time you can get the tying run to the plate in a ball game you've done a pretty good job, but the score doesn't really reflect that."

The Brewers scored three each in the second and third to take a 6-2 lead. In between, Reds manager Jerry Narron was thrown out for arguing a call in the third inning.

Narron jumped up and down before being tossed by crew chief Charlie Reliford when Fielder seemed to be pulled off the bag by Weeks' throw on Scott Hatteberg's grounder. Replays appeared to show Fielder came off the bag as the throw arrived.

"I think he ran me for a lack of elevation," Narron deadpanned. "Sometimes I tend to get sarcastic with the umpires and obviously he didn't like that. I really think he ran me because I embarrassed myself by not being able to jump very high."

Bill Hall led the bottom of the third with a homer to left. Later, Ohka, who was 1-for-18 against the Reds in his career, hit an RBI single through a drawn in infield and Brady Clark added his second sacrifice fly to make it 6-2.

But Milwaukee played sluggish after coming off a nine-game road trip where the Brewers went 3-6.

"It was ugly from the get go," Brewers catcher Damian Miller said. "We played like we were tired."

Cincinnati starter Dave Williams lasted three innings, giving up six runs and eight hits.

Ohka also gave up six runs and eight hits in four innings.

Phillips' two-run homer to center came in the fourth inning to cut Milwaukee's lead to 6-4, and Ohka gave up an unearned run later in the inning when his bad throw of a chopper pulled Fielder off the bag and allowed Felipe Lopez to score to make it 6-5.

"It was great to see a young guy like Brandon Phillips have the kind of night that he did," Narron said. "He's a very talented baseball player. He's got all the abilities. We'll just have to see if, at the major league level, he can be consistent."

Game notes

The Reds scored three runs without an RBI -- two on Milwaukee errors and one on a double play. ... Yost discounts Lee's strong start (eight home runs in 16 games) has anything to do with his upcoming free agency. Yost says Lee is more comfortable and selective at the plate. ... The game was the first this season at Miller Park with the 12,000-ton retractable roof open. Last season, the Brewers were 31-23 with the roof open. ... Reds CF Ryan Freel extended his hitting streak to seven games.