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Lohse, Ross lead Reds past Cards

Jul 1, 2007 - 3:22 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Kyle Lohse and David Ross reversed their fortunes to help the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.

Lohse pitched seven-plus strong innings and Ross snapped out of a slump with a go-ahead homer as the Reds posted a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Lohse, who entered with losses in his previous three starts and was winless since beating Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals on June 7, yielded just a run and five hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.

"It is in him," Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron said. "Kyle's got good stuff, it's a matter of being consistent."

The righthander fell into an early 1-0 hole after Yadier Molina's sacrifice fly in the second. But he retired 11 out of 12 batters to keep the Reds close.

"I struggled in the second inning but I was able to make some good pitches so it didn't get out of hand," said Lohse, who has been hurt by home runs and one big inning.

In his last outing he gave up a career-high eight runs when he allowed a first-inning grand slam to Raul Ibanez and two other home runs in six innings at Seattle.

"The long ball got me last time," Lohse said. "Tonight I stayed in a rhythm and located my pitches better."

"When he gets in a good rhythm, he dominates," Ross said. "His biggest problem is strike one. Outside of (Aaron) Harang that's what this staff could do better. We talked about it. It's like hitting.

Ross reached Wainwright in the fifth for a two-run homer, his sixth blast in 14 games, snapping an 0-for-14 drought.

I'm out there trying to hit. I've been working hard and trying to battle," Ross said. "I'd love to mix in more hits."

Wainwright (6-7) unraveled in the sixth, when he loaded the bases on two walks and a single by Adam Dunn. Rookie Josh Hamilton drew another walk, forcing in a run.

"I felt I was in command of everything," Wainwright said. "Even after (Ross' homer) it was 2-1 and we're still in the game. After the fifth I'm thinking I'm going to go six, seven, eight innings and keep my team in the game.

"I don't know what the heck happened in the sixth inning. It was just a matter of me trying to be too fine there. Most of the pitches I think were two inches or three inches off the plate. First of all, I don't know how they're not swinging at them. I made quality pitches. If they swing, those are outs for me."

The Hamilton walk ended the night for the postseason star, who was charged with five runs and five hits in five frames. He had not pitched since last Saturday, when he yielded two runs in six innings in a win over Philadelphia.

"He pitched for a club that had zero offense," Cards manager Tony La Russa said. "It was a poor day for a lot of our at-bats. No explanation, no excuses. We just had a lot of bad at-bats. Nothing wrong with his stuff, but we've got to have better at-bats than that. It was way to easy. We've got to make it tougher on him."

Russ Springer entered and hit Alex Gonzalez, forcing in another run for a 4-1 edge. One out later, Lohse delivered a sacrifice fly to cap the inning.

"It was nice to get one in the air," Lohse said.