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Maddux dominant in Padres' win over Reds

May 15, 2007 - 6:26 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Greg Maddux took his dominance against the Cincinnati Reds to another level Monday.

Maddux flirted with a perfect game and helped the San Diego Padres to a 7-1 victory over the Reds in the opener of a three-game series.

Former Red Mike Cameron busted out of a 3-for-16 slump against his old team by recording two hits and a pair of RBI for the Padres, who remain one of three teams who have never had a no-hitter. The others are the New York Mets and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Maddux (3-2), who is 6-0 against Cincinnati dating to last season, retired Alex Gonzalez on ground out in the sixth before Javier Valentin blasted a 1-1 changeup for a double off the right-center field wall to end the perfect game.

"He got me again," Maddux said of Valentin, who had been 7-for-21 in his career against Maddux prior to that at-bat. "It was just a changeup up a little bit and he whacked it. It was too early (to think about the perfect game). I haven't thrown one since high school anyway, so I don't think it's going to happen."

The crowd gave the 41-year-old a standing ovation for his efforts. Maddux allowed a pinch-hit single to Jeff Keppinger and then got Ryan Freel to hit into an inning-ending double play. He then walked off to another ovation.

Maddux was efficient, retiring the first 16 batters he faced with a pitch count in the fifties. He need just 96 pitches to finish off the five-hit complete game for his 336th career win.

"I'd be lying if I said (the perfect game) didn't cross my mind after 15 in a row," Padres manager Bud Black said. "And, his pitch count was so low after five. But, you know, that is such a difficult feat against major league hitters. It's fun to think about."

Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron said other pitchers can learn from the future Hall of Famer's latest gem.

"When a guy goes out there on the mound and he can make pitches and command the baseball, he can be very successful," Narron said. "He threw a sinker, a cutter, a changeup and located everything real well and made it look easy.

"Greg Maddux, I hate it because it was against us, but doggone it, every pitcher in baseball ought to take note of it."

Maddux carried the shutout into the ninth but allowed a one-out double to Freel, who advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ken Griffey Jr.. That spoiled Maddux's chances for his first shutout since July 17, 2004.

Maddux responded by striking out Brandon Phillips to notch his first complete game since September 27, 2005, which was a 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh.

He worked with a comfortable lead as San Diego put the game out of reach early by scoring five runs in the first three innings off Cincinnati starter Matt Belisle (3-3).

"We scored a lot of runs early," Maddux said. "And when you do that, you just try to make them hit it and they kept hitting it at people. When you have a lead like that, you can afford to be more aggressive in the strike zone. It allows you to not nibble as much."

Marcus Giles led off with a double to right and Jose Cruz Jr. followed with a single. Brian Giles then drew a one-out walk and Khalil Greene drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right for a 1-0 lead.

Cameron then laced a first-pitch fastball into the right-center field alley for a two-run triple to make the score 3-0.

"We're just tough to beat when we put runs on the board," Cameron said. "This team is very tough to beat. It's a good sign. It was a collective effort on everybody's part to go out and contribute a little bit. It makes the game a whole lot better when you've got guys out there swinging the bats well."

Rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff, who had been hitting just .107 (3-for-28) in his last nine games, had two hits and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth that made the score 6-0.

Phillips extended his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games for the Reds, who have lost four straight and 11 of their last 13.

Belisle suffered through his worst outing of the season, allowing seven runs and 10 hits in five innings.