Manager Bruce Bochy pointed out that the Giants played from behind for almost the entire series, giving up a total of 10 runs in the first inning.

“We got beat up the last couple of games,” Bochy said. “The first inning killed us. Ten runs in the first inning is too much. You’ve got to find a way to fight back.”

Cabrera arrived Sunday after being acquired in a deal with Cleveland on Saturday night. He went 0 for 3. Beltran is 2 for 17 with an RBI since coming over from the Mets on Thursday.

Johnny Cueto pitched a three-hitter and Joey Votto added a three-run homer and tied his career high with five RBIs for the Reds.

Rookie Todd Frazier hit his first career home run and Drew Stubbs had a career-high four hits as the Reds rebounded from being swept by the New York Mets in four games to post three consecutive wins for the first time since sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers June 13-15.

Cueto (7-4) missed the first month of the season with irritation in his right upper arm and needed 7 1-3 innings to qualify for the National League ERA lead. He went into the game with a 1.88 ERA and lowered it to 1.72 with his first shutout since beating Pittsburgh 9-0 with a one-hitter on May 11, 2010. The complete game was his third of the season, but he lost the other two. Cueto had one walk with six strikeouts while allowing just one baserunner past first base.

“Give their pitcher credit,” Bochy said. “He pitched great.”

San Francisco left-hander Barry Zito was handed his third straight loss after a stretch in which he won three in a row as the Giants were swept for the fifth time this season and first since losing three straight at Oakland June 17-19.

For the second consecutive game, the Reds grabbed a first-inning lead. Stubbs, Edgar Renteria and Votto all singled to produce one run. After Zito’s wild pitch, Brandon Phillips produced a sacrifice fly, and Jay Bruce singled up the middle for a 3-0 lead.

“The pitches to Renteria and Bruce were up,” Zito said. “They were pitches that didn’t finish.”

The Reds led 5-0 after the first inning on Saturday.

Frazier hit a 1-1 pitch from Zito 368 feet over the left field fence for a 4-0 lead with one out in the fourth inning. The Reds made it 5-0 on Bruce’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Zito (3-4) allowed eight hits and five runs with two walks and four strikeouts. He also threw a wild pitch.

The Reds broke it open in the seventh on Votto’s 414-foot, three-run homer to center field on a full-count pitch from Guilleromo Mota.

The Reds wrapped up the scoring with Stubbs’ double and Votto’s RBI single in the eighth.

The Giants lost twice by eight runs this season. Bochy isn’t concerned, even with Arizona — first-place San Francisco’s closest pursuer in the NL West — coming in for a three-game series. The East-leading Phillies follow for a four-game weekend series.

“This club is resilient,” Bochy said. We’ve been through this before. It’s not easy. There are always going to be bumps in the road, and this was a big one. It’s up to us. We’ve got to go out there and play our best ball. We’ve got the talent. We’ve just got to do it.”

NOTES: San Francisco optioned rookie SS Brandon Crawford to Triple-A Fresno before the game to make room on the roster for newly acquired SS Orlando Cabrera. … After their six-game road trip, the Giants return home for their second 10-game home stand of the season. After the first of their two 10-game home stands, the Reds leave for a six-game trip to Houston and Chicago. … Phillips extended his hitting streak to 10 games (15 for 42, .357), the team’s longest current streak.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

It’s not hard to figure why Cincinnati Reds rightfielder Jay Bruce is suddenly the star most predicted he would be. Bruce had a monster May: 12 home runs, 33 RBIs, .342 batting average. For much of the month, Bruce was the only player manning the fort between legitimacy and creeping irrelevance for the Reds in the NL Central.

All he did was ignore bad pitches.

How hard can that be? The strike zone is not a moving target, home plate is forever 17 inches across. It doesn’t change from year to year. Umpires might have their own version of the zone. The shoulders-to-knees geometry is timeless. Also, to some, confounding.

This is Bruce’s fourth season in the majors, and he’s still just 24. At some point, either you figure out the game or you don’t. Bruce isn’t suggesting he has it figured out. He’s not suggesting he doesn’t, either.

“I plan on being a really good player for a long time,” he says. “This is a step.”

It’s not bluster. He has had his head deflated enough already that he knows how fickle the game can be. As a 21-year-old fresh from Triple-A in 2008, Bruce had a ridiculous 15 hits in his first 26 at-bats. He hung out on the plush leather sectional couches in the Reds clubhouse, with Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn, reading magazines about big, expensive vehicles. People told him how great he was.

How hard can this be?

Then he hit .223 in June. And .227 in August. He hit .190 against lefthanders. Mostly, he swung at bad pitches. Welcome to The Show, kid.

In 2009, he maintained the pattern. When Bruce connected, the Reds launched fireworks beyond the outfield walls. He hit 22 homers in 345 at-bats, to go along with the 21 he’d hit as a rookie. When Bruce missed, you could feel the breeze across the Ohio River: 110 strikeouts, .223 batting average. He still says now the best thing that happened to him in ’09 was breaking his wrist in July and sitting for two months.

“It allowed me to catch my breath, get some perspective” he says now.

Last year, he hit .281 with 25 homers and played superb defensively in rightfield. And yet, there was still a feeling locally that Bruce was not the player he should be. That changed in May.

Baseball people talk about “making adjustments” and “trusting your approach.” Reds manager Dusty Baker says Bruce is “seeing the ball like a beach ball instead of a golf ball.”

It’s just another way of saying Bruce is evolving into the hitter most thought he would be. It has been as simple as swinging at good pitches. For hitters, it usually is.

“A gigantic difference in the pitches he’s taking and the pitches he’s swinging at,” noted teammate and reigning NL MVP Joey Votto. “He’s not forcing anything.”

Bruce has a broad, loopy, long-hitter’s hack that has been abused on occasion by smart pitching. Let’s throw him this fastball low and in, and watch him foul it off. The breaking stuff just off the plate looks good, until he pops it up.

“I chased pitches,” Bruce explains. “I’m still chasing pitches, sometimes. That was the book: Throw me something I’ll pop up or ground out. It’s been evolving for me, though.” Bruce says he’s “learning to get out of my own way.

“I try to clear my mind and have a plan. When I take (balls) and they throw strikes, I’m in pretty good shape.”

Because he was a top draft pick and was so good immediately, Bruce has had a lot of people telling him how he should hit. Because he is conscientious, he wanted to please them all.

Shorten your stroke. Hit the ball to the opposite field. Watch more video. Be more of a technician, like Votto. “He was trying to be something he’s not,” Votto says.

Which was?

“He pulls the ball,” says Votto. “That’s his strength. He felt a little pressure to drive the ball all over the field. He can do that, but his strength is hitting balls in the middle of the plate, that have some height to them. It’s a maturation thing.”

Lately, Bruce has been listening to Bruce. It seems to be working.

“Swinging at the right pitches,” he says. “Not missing mistakes. Not swinging at pitches (pitchers) want me to swing at. It’s pretty anti-climactic.”

Reds hitting coach Brook Jacoby says Bruce is hitting the good pitches he’s getting: “Earlier, a fastball he should have handled, he was fouling back. Breaking balls he should have let come to him, he was going to get them.

“He has (hit well) before. You’d see bits and pieces. It’s a matter of him being patient and putting the strike zone back together.”

Then Jacoby uttered the key to Bruce’s ongoing education: “It’s on him. He can learn (the game) or he can have trouble. It’s not something magical.”

Bruce got a six-year, $51 million contract in the offseason, a move that raised eyebrows locally, from those who believed Bruce would either (a) become satisfied or (b) press. He has done neither. “The contract was big for him,” says Votto. “It gave him peace of mind. ‘I’m not going anywhere, I’m not going to be sent down.”’

He moved his locker cubicle across the room and next to Votto. The two haven’t followed identical career paths, but fairly close. They’ve been friends awhile. It’s an interesting match: Votto, modest, private, somewhat shy, Canadian; Bruce: open, candid and Texan, with all that being Texan implies.

As a hitter, Votto is a technician and, as he says, “very particular.” About hitting and everything else. Bruce hits “by feel. I’m a see-ball, hit-ball guy.” The two feed off each other’s styles and personalities.

Until now, Votto’s bat has carried the Reds. Now, it’s Bruce’s turn. For as long as he can keep it going. “The main thing is,” says Baker, “don’t figure out when it’s going to stop. It’s like surfing. Catch a good wave and ride it all the way to the beach.”

Bruce doesn’t surf; he’s from near Houston. He knows about riding waves, though. All he has to do is hit good pitches.

Paul Daugherty is a columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer.

CBSSports.com wire reports
June 3, 2011

CINCINNATI — Scott Rolen takes pride in his ability to drive in runs, so this streak was gnawing at him.

The All-Star third baseman can relax now. It’s over.

Rolen snapped a stretch of seven games without an RBI, coming up with a two-run single with two out in the fifth inning to send Bronson Arroyo and the Reds to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

“I still like to measure how things are going by things like average and runs batted in and runs scored,” said Rolen, who hadn’t driven in a run since May 24 in Philadelphia. “RBIs and runs scored are big things for me, and it’s painful to go through a drought like that.

“I haven’t done a postgame interview in a while,” he added with a smile. “I’m excited.”

Arroyo (4-5) allowed one run and five hits in six innings, enough for his first win in seven starts since a 9-5 victory at Milwaukee on April 25. The right-hander, still dealing with the aftereffects of mononucleosis he contracted during spring training, was 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in his previous three outings.

“May wasn’t too kind to me,” Arroyo said. “It’s June. Hopefully, I’ll get a few wins this month. Actually, I felt worse stuff-wise tonight than I did the last couple of times. This game is funny. Sometimes, you have to be lucky. I threw some balls down the middle that they either popped up or hit into the ground. Sometimes, you avoid the barrel of the bat. Sometimes, you don’t.”

Logan Ondrusek and Nick Masset each got three outs before Francisco Cordero turned in a perfect ninth to earn his 11th save in 13 opportunities this season and No. 301 for his career, snapping a tie with Bruce Sutter for 21st place on the saves list.

The Reds have won back-to-back games for the first time since a five-game winning streak from May 13 through May 17. Manager Dusty Baker hopes the win means Arroyo has turned a corner.

“A lot of times, when you stop a bad streak, you start a good one,” Baker said. “Hopefully, he’ll get on great streak like we’ve seen him do.”

Hiroki Kuroda (5-6) allowed six hits and walked four in six innings for the Dodgers, dropping to 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA in four career starts against Cincinnati. The right-hander has lost his last three starts overall.

The teams left a combined 15 runners on base, eight by the Reds. The Dodgers have scored one run in their last two games after producing a combined 15 in back-to-back wins over Colorado on Monday and Tuesday.

Manager Don Mattingly believes his players got a little overconfident.

“We got a little giddy, scoring all of those runs,” he said. “We have to put guys in the best spots to score runs and protect [Andre] Ethier and [Matt] Kemp.”

The Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp singled and Jay Gibbons was hit by a pitch before James Loney produced a sacrifice fly to give Los Angeles the lead. Kemp was tagged out in a rundown off second on Loney’s line drive, taking the steam out of what could have been a big inning for L.A.

“His thinking was OK,” Mattingly said. “He thought the ball might go through, and he got a little bit too far into no-man’s land.”

Arroyo was grateful for the break.

“I had a few innings that could have blown up in my face,” he said. “I’ll take a win any way I can get it.”

Cincinnati responded in the fifth. Drew Stubbs singled to center with one out and Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, the reigning National League player of the month, walked with two down. Rolen then lined a base hit into center field.

“I got behind in the count,” Kuroda said. “I got myself in trouble. They have a lot of power, especially in this ballpark. I guess I was too careful.”

Notes

• Dodger SS Rafael Furcal left after two innings with an injury to his left side. He was hurt throwing out Bruce at third base after Bruce was caught off second on a missed sacrifice attempt.
• Los Angeles rookie RHP Rubby De La Rosa will make what would have been Jon Garland’s next start, Mattingly said. Garland, experiencing shoulder problems, did not travel with the team to Cincinnati. De La Rosa, the Dodgers’ 2010 minor league pitcher of the year, is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three relief appearances since making his major-league debut Tuesday.
• Reds 2B Brandon Phillips did not start, as much to give him back-to-back days off as to give his right wrist a chance to heal, Baker said. Phillips was hit by a pitch Wednesday.

Scott Rolen hit a two-run single with two out in the fifth inning, sending Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

Arroyo (4-5) allowed one run and five hits in six innings, enough for his first win in seven starts since a 9-5 victory at Milwaukee on April 25. The right-hander, still dealing with the aftereffects of mononucleosis he contracted during spring training, was 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in his previous three outings.

Logan Ondrusek and Nick Masset each got three outs before Francisco Cordero turned in a perfect ninth to earn his 11th save in 13 opportunities this season and No. 301 for his career, snapping a tie with Bruce Sutter for 21st place on the saves list.

The Reds have won back-to-back games for the first time since a five-game winning streak from May 13 through May 17.

Hiroki Kuroda (5-6) allowed six hits and walked four in six innings for the Dodgers, dropping to 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA in four career starts against Cincinnati. The right-hander has lost his last three starts overall.

The teams left a combined 15 runners on base, eight by the Reds.

The Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp singled and Jay Gibbons was hit by a pitch before James Loney produced a sacrifice fly to give Los Angeles the lead. But Kemp was tagged out in a rundown off second on Loney’s fly ball, taking the steam out of what could have been a big inning for L.A.

Cincinnati responded in the fifth. Drew Stubbs singled to center with one out and Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, the reigning National League player of the month, walked with two down. Rolen then lined a base hit into center field for his first RBIs in his last eight games since May 24 at Philadelphia.

NOTES: Dodger SS Rafael Furcal left after two innings with an injury to his left side. He was hurt throwing out Bruce at third base after Bruce was caught off second on a missed sacrifice attempt. … Los Angeles rookie RHP Rubby De La Rosa will make what would have been Jon Garland’s next start, manager Don Mattingly said. Garland, experiencing shoulder problems, did not travel with the team to Cincinnati. De La Rosa, the Dodgers’ 2010 minor league pitcher of the year, is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three relief appearances since making his major league debut Tuesday. … Reds 2B Brandon Phillips did not start, as much to give him back-to-back days off as to give his right wrist a chance to heal, manager Dusty Baker said. Phillips was hit by a pitch Wednesday.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds returned home from a disastrous road trip Monday to find the perfect remedy: Chris Narveson and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer and finished with three hits, powering Travis Wood and Cincinnati to a 7-3 victory past Milwaukee.

Paul Janish added two hits and drove in a run for the Reds, who just wrapped a 2-8 trip to Cleveland, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Wood (4-3) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings in the opener of a 10-day, nine-game homestand.

The defending NL Central champions gained a game on the teams ahead of them in the division, the Brewers and first-place St. Louis, which lost at home to San Francisco.

“When you get a chance to catch the teams ahead of you and you do it, it’s nice,” said Bruce, who also tripled for the first time this season and had a single. “We did a good job tonight. I wasn’t overly concerned about the cycle. It is what it is. I just wanted the win.”

Bruce hit his NL-best 16th homer in Cincinnati’s four-run fourth inning. He is batting .405 with six homers and 17 RBI in his past nine games, and .346 with 12 homers and 32 RBI this month.

Manager Dusty Baker wanted to see Bruce complete the cycle.

“I wanted him to get that double out of the way,” Baker said. “It sure is nice to see him hitting. I just hope he accepts what he’s doing and doesn’t wake up.”

The Brewers, who went 8-1 on their previous homestand, dropped to a National League-worst 8-18 (.308) on the road, including 0-4 this season and 1-11 in the past two years in Cincinnati. They are 1-6 against the Reds this season and 4-17 during the past two years, a trend that is starting to disturb manager Ron Roenicke.

“The more things happen on the negative side, the more it gets in your head a bit,” the first-year manager said.

Wood (4-3) struck out two and walked none. He is 3-0 with a 3.33 ERA in four career starts against Milwaukee during the past two years.

“I felt good,” Wood said. “I felt like my pitches were working pretty well. I would like to have gone a little deeper into the game, but I’m glad that I was able to hold them off.”

Jose Arredondo, Nick Masset and Francisco Cordero each pitched an inning to finish it for the Reds.

Bruce tripled and scored on Jonny Gomes’ sacrifice fly in the second against Narveson, who is 0-3 with a 7.06 ERA in six career games against Cincinnati. Two innings later, after Joey Votto’s second walk in as many plate appearances and Scott Rolen’s single, Bruce hit an 0-2 pitch 422 feet into the right-field seats.

Narveson was upset with allowing Rolen, Bruce and Gomes off the hook after getting two strikes on each of them.

“I left a pitch up to all of them,” the left-hander said.

Gomes followed the homer with a double and scored on Janish’s single.

Carlos Gomez and pinch-hitter Josh Wilson homered for Milwaukee, and Ryan Braun also doubled in a run. It was Wilson’s first homer since Sept. 26, 2010, for Seattle at Tampa Bay.

“They hit some pretty good pitches,” Wood said. “Gomez went down and got it. I wanted to throw a cutter in to Wilson and it was in. They just put some good swings on them.”

Narveson (2-4) lasted four innings, allowing five runs and five hits.

The Reds tacked on two more runs in the sixth with help from the Brewers. With two out and runners on first and second, pinch-hitter Fred Lewis had an RBI single and Janish scored on a throwing error by catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

Notes: The Reds’ eight losses on their previous road trip were the most since they lost eight on a 12-game trip from June 20-July 3, 2003. They lost eight games on a 10-game trip for the first time since April 15-25, 1996. … Cincinnati didn’t make it official, but right-hander Chad Reineke is the projected starter today against Milwaukee. The appearance will be his first in the majors since starting for Oakland against Texas on Aug. 5, 2009. Reineke is 5-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 10 games, nine of them starts, with Triple-A Louisville. … Milwaukee right-hander Takashi Saito, on the 60-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, was expected to throw in the bullpen today and three or four more times after that before trying a simulated game, Roenicke said.