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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Pittsburgh —
Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker kept telling his team it would only take one hit to break out of a woeful slump.

Turns out, it only took one Pittsburgh Pirates error.

Two, actually.

The Reds took advantage of a pair of miscues from Pittsburgh shortstop Chase d’Arnaud to beat the Pirates 3-1 on Wednesday and avoid a three-game sweep.

Johnny Cueto (6-3) gave up one run over six innings to whittle his ERA to 1.98 as Cincinnati found a little punch following two nights of futility against the surprising NL Central-leading Pirates.

Though Baker has stressed it’s not time to panic, Cueto knows the Reds are at a critical point in their season. The defending division champions haven’t won consecutive games in over a month and have dropped off the pace in the crowded Central race.

“What I was thinking is, ‘We need to win today, and I give a good game, a quality start,’” Cueto said. “I need to make good pitches, and the team will help me with runs and we can get a win.”

The Reds didn’t exactly bust out against Pittsburgh starter Jeff Karstens (8-5), but they didn’t let a little charity go to waste.

An error by d’Arnaud on a routine play to start the game helped Cincinnati plate its first run since Sunday, and a bobble in the fifth extended the inning and allowed the Reds to put together the final margin.

“They were two plays we need to put away,” said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle. “That basically was pretty much the difference.”

Chris Heisey and Jay Bruce had two hits apiece for the Reds, who beat Pittsburgh for just the second time in nine tries this year.

D’Arnaud made a pair of huge plays in a 2-0 win Monday. His diving stop in the hole got Pittsburgh out of a bases-loaded situation in the first inning and his first-to-third sprint in the fourth opened the door for a pair of Pittsburgh runs.

The 24-year-old, who was injured sliding into third Monday, sat out Tuesday’s 1-0 victory as a precaution. He didn’t exactly look comfortable upon his return. Heisey led off the game with a routine grounder that d’Arnaud threw into the stands. Heisey would later score on a sacrifice fly from Joey Votto to end Cincinnati’s longest scoreless streak in over a year.

“We were going to try to score a run any way we could early, especially knowing the fact that they don’t give up a lot of runs — especially here in their ballpark,” Baker said.

Miguel Cairo’s sacrifice fly in the second put Cincinnati up 2-0 and, after Andrew McCutchen’s double cut the lead to one, another d’Arnaud mistake gave the Reds some breathing room in the fifth. He had trouble coming up with a two-out grounder by Cueto, extending the inning. Heisey followed with a single and the pitcher came home on a single by Edgar Renteria.

Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto has amassed several awards during his baseball career, including the National League MVP trophy last season.

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But his most-prized possession might be a piece of paper. It’s a letter he received from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“I have it framed and hanging up on my wall at home,” the Canadian-born Votto said. “He commented on all my accolades and said congratulations, but the highlight of the letter was, he crossed off Mr. Votto and wrote in ‘Joey’ in blue ink, making it personal.”

Votto received the letter several months after Harper had it sent to the Reds. It sat in the clubhouse until an equipment man found it when Votto reported to Cincinnati for the start of the season.

“I looked at in and said, ‘Do you guys know this is from my president?’ ” Votto said. “I told the clubhouse guy, ‘This is like you getting a letter from Barack Obama.’ I was kind of upset at the time, because it was such an important thing and I didn’t get a chance to acknowledge it.”

Reyes not worried

He’s an MVP candidate, but for much of this season shortstop Jose Reyes’ future with the Mets has been up in the air. There had been reports he might be traded because the club wasn’t prepared to offer him a multiyear contract.

Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson, however, has said the team is not considering dealing Reyes.

“It is a good feeling, because I want to be a Met,” Reyes said. “There are a lot of rumors out there, but I just want to continue to do my job and help my team win ballgames.”

Reyes was voted the NL’s starting shortstop but is on the disabled list because of a hamstring injury. He was asked if he considered skipping the All-Star Game, like the Yankees’ Derek Jeter.

“I thought about it for a little bit,” he said, “but I want to come here. It’s good for me to be here. I just wanted to come.”

Face of the Astros

Astros outfielder Hunter Pence is becoming the face of the franchise.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound native Texan is the team’s lone representative at the All-Star Game. He’ll head into the second half with a .323 batting average, 11 home runs and 60 RBIs.

“It’s an honor just being here, and hopefully I can be a part of making a moment that Houston can be proud of and appreciate, and that’s what my main focus is,” he said. “If I’m going to be here, I’m going to be here to win and go out there and try to do that.”

Where’s the ring?

Most of the Giants players named to the All-Star Game were seen sporting their World Series rings on Monday. Closer Brian Wilson, who stole the show during the NL’s player news conferences, was asked why he wasn’t wearing his.

“I am not a player to wear the symbology of my season. I know where it lies and it’s in my heart, and I have a lot of memories of it,” Wilson said, adding with a straight face: “And quite frankly, my finger is not ready for that kind of weight.”

Keeping it real

How important is it when a player makes his first All-Star Game and he ends up being voted in as a starter? For Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, it’s priceless.

“This is a game I’ve been playing since I was 4 years old, and my dad actually sent me a picture yesterday of the first baseball field I ever played on – just to remind me of where I come from,” Kemp said. “It hit me that I come from a long way, and it’s just a great feeling to be in this situation.”

Short hop

Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval believes his team can win another championship: “Why not? We can write the story again. Once you win it once, you like the feeling, and you want more and more of it. If we can repeat as champion, we are going to appreciate it.”

Republic reporter José E. Garcia contributed to this article.

Published 1:17am Friday, June 3, 2011

The Associated Press

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds got a much-needed off day following an exhausting stretch of schedule. The Los Angeles Dodgers hope their one-day break will help them get back to their recent high-scoring ways.

The clubs meet for the first time this season when Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo and Los Angeles’ Hiroki Kuroda both try to avoid a third straight loss Friday night.

Cincinnati (29-28) closed a stretch of 20 consecutive days with a game Wednesday, defeating Milwaukee 4-3. The Reds have gone 4-11 in their last 15 to complete the grueling stretch at 9-11.

“It’s been a long ride here, physically, mentally and emotionally,” manager Dusty Baker told the team’s official website. “(The players should) go swimming, spend some time with your kids, if they’re here.”

The Reds’ last back-to-back victories came during a season high-tying five-game winning streak May 13-17.

The Dodgers (26-31) opened a 10-game trip by managing a season-low four hits — all singles — in a 3-0 loss to Colorado on Wednesday. Los Angeles scored 23 runs while winning its previous three games.

“We’re pretty confident that our pitchers will keep us in the game,” manager Don Mattingly told the team’s website. “But we’ve got to get one here, one there and not worry about trying to get three.”

Casey Blake, who has a homer and five RBIs in five games since coming off the disabled list, batted .346 with six RBIs as his club split six games in Cincinnati last season. The Dodgers averaged 7.8 runs in those contests.

Los Angeles could have a good chance of matching that kind of production against Arroyo (3-5, 5.74 ERA), who has gone 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in his latest three starts. He pitched a total of 5 2-3 innings in the last two.

In a 7-6, 12-inning loss at Atlanta on Saturday — Arroyo’s first outing since an MRI revealed a minor muscle strain in his back — he allowed five runs and nine hits over three innings.

“Physically, I felt as good as I have all year, by far,” Arroyo said. “… It’s just a mixture of command and getting hit on some pitches and the ball not rolling your way.”

Arroyo might be facing the right opponent as he looks to get on track. He went 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in two starts against Los Angeles in 2010.

Kuroda (5-5, 3.50) also enjoyed success in this matchup last season, improving to 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA against the Reds by winning two starts in Cincinnati.

The right-hander, however, has posted a 7.36 ERA in losing his last two starts. He matched season highs with five runs and 10 hits allowed in a 6-1 defeat to Florida on Saturday.

Reds right fielder Jay Bruce has batted .417 with nine homers and 22 RBIs in the last 14 games. Teammate Joey Votto hit .382 with four home runs and 13 RBIs against Los Angeles in 2010.

Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp had four homers and a team-high nine RBIs against the Reds last season. He has gone 6 for 17 with two home runs versus Arroyo.

These clubs have split the last 12 meetings.

Updated May 23, 2011 11:06 PM ET

PHILADELPHIA (AP)

Maybe all the Philadelphia Phillies needed was to see Chase Utley back in the lineup to perk up their slumping bats.

Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and Raul Ibanez homered to back Cole Hamels, and the Phillies handed the Cincinnati Reds their sixth straight loss, 10-3 on Monday night.

Utley returned after missing the first 46 games with a right knee injury. The five-time All-Star second baseman was 0 for 5, the only starter without a hit.

His teammates did all the damage.

”I don’t know if it was his presence or not, but somebody did something right so we’ll give him credit,” Manager Charlie Manuel said.

A struggling offense that had nine runs combined in the previous six games scored nine by the third inning.

That was more than enough for Hamels (6-2). He allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. The lefty is 8-0 with an 1.23 ERA against the Reds, including a five-hit shutout to complete a sweep in last year’s divisional playoff series.

”Him being around gets guys excited and gives us a new energy level,” Hamels said of Utley. ”It’s great to see him.”

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo (3-5) allowed nine runs and 10 hits in 2-2/3 innings. His ERA rose from 4.11 to 5.28. It was Arroyo’s worst start since allowing eight runs in three innings against San Diego on April 23, 2010.

Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer for the Reds, who haven’t lost this many in a row since dropping eight straight from July 28 to August 4, 2009.

”We just have to get back on track,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. ”That’s two days in a row we went to the bullpen early and we can’t keep doing that.”

All eyes were on Utley long before the first pitch. Television cameras centered on Utley during batting practice and pregame warmups. He even had a rare interview with reporters on the field.

A sellout crowd of 45,841 — the largest in the regular season in the eight-year history of Citizens Bank Park — gave Utley a rousing standing ovation when he came up in the first. Fans stayed on their feet even after the first pitch. He flied out to center.

”I put in a lot of hard work to get to this point,” Utley said. ”I’m just happy to be out there.”

Polanco followed Utley’s first at-bat with a two-run drive to left for a 2-0 lead. Polanco remained in the No. 3 hole in the lineup while Utley batted second instead of his usual spot.

The Phillies chased Arroyo with seven runs in the third, six coming with two outs. Ibanez had an RBI single. After Domonic Brown lined to left for the second out, John Mayberry Jr. delivered a two-run single. Hamels followed with an RBI single. Rollins then hit a three-run shot out to right to make it 9-0.

”It’s definitely nice to score together as a group,” Ibanez said. ”Hopefully it helps us build momentum. It’s great to see (Utley) out there, to have him back in the lineup. He’s a huge part of our team. We definitely missed him.”

Bruce connected in the fourth, hitting his team-high 12th homer off the right-field foul pole.

Cincinnati’s Todd Frazier struck out in his first career at-bat pinch-hitting in the seventh, but it was a memorable major league debut. On his first swing on the first pitch he saw, the bat flew out of Frazier’s hands and landed in the first row of the stands all the way down the left-field line. It didn’t hit anyone.

Notes: The Reds sent former All-Star right-hander Edinson Volquez to Triple-A before the game. Volquez won 17 games as a rookie in 2008 and started Game 1 of the NLDS vs. Philadelphia last year. …. Phillies RHP Joe Blanton will see renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his injured elbow. … The sellout was the 162nd straight at Citizens Bank Park, including postseason play. … The seven runs in the third were a season-high in an inning for the Phillies. … Arroyo fell to 1-6 against the Phillies. … Bruce is 11 for 18 with three homers in his past five games.