CINCINNATI, Oct. 31 (UPI) — The Cincinnati Reds said Monday they have picked up their 2012 club option on two-time all-star second baseman Brandon Phillips.

Phillips, who logged a career-best .300 batting average with 18 home runs and 82 RBI for the Reds last season, will receive $12 million under the option exercise.

Phillips led National League second basemen in hitting, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, hits and doubles, and ranked second in RBI, MLB.com reported.

The Reds also announced they have declined an option on closer Francisco Cordero for next season, however.

Cordero compiled a 5-3 mark with a 2.45 ERA and 42 strikeouts, 22 walks and 37 saves for Cincinnati in 2011.

73 — Chicago Bears def. Washington 73-0, Dec. 8, 1940 (NFL Championship)
72 — Washington def. N.Y. Giants 72-41, Nov. 27, 1966
70 — L.A. Rams def. Baltimore Colts 70-27, Oct. 22, 1950
65 — Chicago Cardinals def. N.Y. Bulldogs 65-20, Nov. 13, 1949
65 — L.A. Rams def. Detroit 65-24, Oct. 29, 1950
64 — Philadelphia def. Cincinnati Reds 64-0, Nov. 6, 1934
63 — Chicago Cardinals def. N.Y. Giants 63-35, Oct. 17, 1948
63 — Pittsburgh def. N.Y. Giants 63-7, Nov. 30, 1952
62 — Akron def. Oorang 62-0, Oct. 29, 1922
62 — Cleveland def. N.Y. Giants 62-14, Dec. 6, 1953
62 — Cleveland def. Washington 62-3, Nov. 7, 1954
62 — N.Y. Giants def. Philadelphia 62-10, Nov. 26, 1972
62 — Atlanta def. New Orleans 62-7, Sept. 16, 1973
62 — N.Y. Jets def. Tampa Bay 62-28, Nov. 17, 1985
62 — Jacksonville def. Miami 62-7, Jan. 15, 2000 (AFC Divisional Playoff)
62 — New Orleans def. Indianapolis 62-7, Oct. 23, 2011
61 — Chicago Bears def. San Francisco 61-20, Dec. 12, 1965
61 — Cincinnati def. Houston Oilers 61-17, Dec. 17, 1972
61 — Chicago Bears def. Green Bay 61-7, Dec. 7, 1980
61 — Cincinnati def. Houston Oilers 61-7, Dec. 17, 1989
60 — Rock Island def. Evansville 60-0, Oct. 15, 1922
60 — Chicago Cardinals def. Rochester 60-0, Oct. 7, 1923

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.

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds took care of business early to help Mike Leake get a big win.

They scored five first-inning runs on their way to a 7-2 win over the San Francisco Giants before a sellout crowd on Saturday.

Seven players each had a hit for the Reds on their way to a second consecutive win for just the second time since sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series in Cincinnati June 13-15. Cincinnati won the series opener 4-3 in 13 innings on Friday.

“It helped to score those first inning runs,” Dusty Baker said. “We haven’t been scoring a lot of runs lately.”

Leake, who leads the Reds in wins despite spending 13 days with Triple-A Louisville in May, earned his career-high ninth. The second-year right-hander, winner of eight games as a rookie in 2010, allowed eight hits and two runs — one earned — with no walks and seven strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings.

“I’m not going to stop there,” Leake said.

The righthander had quality starts in his last two outings but both resulted in losses as his slumping teammates scored just three runs total, including a shutout loss to Pittsburgh.

“As a pitcher you never complain about runs,” Leake said. “Our offense is coming around.”

The Giants loaded the bases with one out against Leake in the seventh, but left-hander Bill Bray came on to get Carlos Beltran to fly out harmlessly to left and Pablo Sandoval to ground out to third.

“Bray was outstanding against the middle of their order,” Baker said.

Beltran flied out in the ninth and now is 1 for 14 in three games with the Giants since being traded from the Mets on Thursday.

Logan Ondrusek and Nick Masset each added a shutout inning for the Reds.

The Reds pounced on an uncharacteristically wild Madison Bumgarner for five hits and five runs while sending 11 batters to the plate in the first inning. Brandon Phillips drove in the first run with a single to left, and Jay Bruce and Chris Heisey followed with back-to-back two-run singles up the middle.

Heisey, who is seeing most of the playing time since Jonny Gomes was traded to Washington can feel the offense heating up.

“At any point, I think our offense can take off,” Heisey said. “We didn’t have a lot of key hits lately but were able to sting them together tonight. As a hitter you hate to see a guy battling out there when you’re not scoring runs.

Bumgarner, who hadn’t walked more than one batter in any of his previous 10 starts and none in his three most recent appearances, didn’t help himself with two walks in the inning. The left-hander also hit Miguel Cairo while throwing 40 pitches, 23 for strikes.

The Giants got one run back on Sandoval’s 446-foot home run deep into the right-center field seats leading off the second, his 11th homer of the season and second in three games, but the Reds capitalized on two Giants errors to add to two unearned runs in the fourth.

Then Reds shortstop Edgar Renteria committed two errors in the fifth to hand San Francisco a gift run.

The veteran went to talk to Leake after his second miscue.

“You know he doesn’t want to make them,” Leake said. “He came in just to pick me up. When I was younger, I would have gotten angry but at some point you learn to deal with it.”

Leake, who spent no time in the minor leagues until his stint in May worked out of the jam.

“That’s the sign of a good pitcher, when you can pitch yourself out of trouble,” Baker said. “He has a lot of weapons. He has the pitches to get a double play. He’s not a strikeout pitcher but can get them when he needs to.”

Bumgarner (6-10) lasted four innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs — five earned — with three walks and four strikeouts. He also was called for a balk.

The crowd of 40,402 was Cincinnati’s 12th sellout of the season, a record for Great American Ball Park. The previous record was set in 2003, the year the ballpark opened, and tied in 2004.

Notes: LHP Aroldis Chapman hasn’t allowed a hit in 8-23 innings over his last seven appearances, the longest single-season stretch by a Reds reliever since Chuck McElroy went 11 1-3 innings in from April 25 through May 17, 1994, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Chapman has retired 25 of the last 26 batters he’s faced, with one walk and 13 strikeouts. … Giants manager Bruce Bochy planned to give 1B Aubrey Huff Saturday and Sunday off after he played all 13 innings Friday following the team’s 2:30 a.m. arrival from Philadelphia. … Reds 2B Brandon Phillips extended his hitting streak to nine games (13 for 38, .342), the team’s longest current streak.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)