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Griffey homers, Arroyo strong as Reds top Nationals

Jul 5, 2008 - 12:18 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Bronson Arroyo pitched six effective innings and Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run homer as the Cincinnati Reds blanked the Washington Nationals, 3-0, on Friday.

Arroyo (6-7) only retired the side in order once but allowed just one runner to reach third base. The righthander gave up five hits and three walks, striking out three.

It marks just the second time this season that Arroyo, who allowed 10 runs and 11 hits in one inning on June 24, has won consecutive starts. Friday's triumph was his first at home since May 28.

"They gave me an early lead, and if you put the zeros up there on the board in the first few innings, especially if you don't throw a lot of pitches, you get to where you feel like you are unbeatable," Arroyo said.

Three relievers combined to keep the Nationals scoreless, including closer Francisco Cordero, who worked around a pair of singles in the ninth to secure his 17th save.

The Reds got on the board in the bottom of the first, when rookie Jay Bruce hit a one-out double and Griffey lined his 11th home run of the season just over the wall in right field for a 2-0 advantage.

"The situation dictates for me to try to pull the ball," Griffey said. "Try to get a pitch that I can pull and get Jay one step closer to home. I just happened to hit a line drive that went out."

"It was big to see (Griffey) get that hit, especially in the first inning," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "You get on the board in that first inning, then it relieves a lot of pressure."

Arroyo helped his own cause - with the aid of Nationals left fielder Elijah Dukes - in the bottom of the fourth, lining a two-out pitch to left that Dukes misplayed. Paul Bako, who had walked, came around to score and Arroyo went to third on the error.

The Nationals had their best chance to score in the sixth, when Dmitri Young led off with a double to right-center and moved to third on a groundout. But Arroyo got Ronnie Belliard to ground out to first and, after a walk to Paul Lo Duca, retired Felipe Lopez on a popout to shortstop.

"He was able to throw all of his breaking pitches from different angles for strikes," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "He kept every one of our guys off-balance. Arroyo did a good job."

"I throw the ball in the zone a lot," Arroyo said. "And at times, I'm going to get hit a lot, but that's just the way it goes. I felt really good today."

Washington starter Jason Bergmann (1-6) gave up all three runs - two earned - and six hits with three walks, striking out five in six innings.

Bergmann, who has not won since his lone victory on May 15, has allowed two earned runs or less in each of his last four starts but has been hurt by a lack of run support.

"It's just a little bit more motivation to get better," Bergmann said. "I'll try my hardest to give the team a quality start. I also have to go out there and win the game.

"Today was a quality start, but we lost the game, and I have to do a little better next time."

The start of the game was delayed by rain for 1 hour, 47 minutes.