• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Reds kick off series with visiting Blue Jays

Jun 17, 2011 - 3:13 PM (Sports Network) - Fresh off a successful West Coast trip, the Cincinnati Reds return to Great American Ballpark this evening to jump back into interleague play with a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cincinnati went 5-2 on its seven-game trek through San Francisco and Los Angeles and capped the swing in fine fashion, taking all three meetings with the Dodgers. The Reds completed the sweep with a 7-2 victory on Wednesday, receiving another solid performance from a starting pitcher in the process.

Travis Wood did the honors in the finale, holding the Dodgers to one run over the first six innings to record the win. Though the young left-hander did issue five walks on the night, three of which came in the first inning, he was able to limit the damage by working out of a few jams and getting good help from his defense.

Wood walked in a run in the bottom of the first, but escaped a big inning when outfielder Jonny Gomes made a diving catch down the left-field line with the bases loaded for the final out.

"It was a rough first," said Wood. "But I settled down after that. It was a battle all day. Jonny Gomes played outstanding and we had a couple of clutch hits."

Three of those clutch hits came from Scott Rolen, who knocked in four of Cincinnati's seven runs and scored twice. Fred Lewis and Ryan Hanigan each went 2-for-3 with two RBI to further aid Wood's cause.

Reds starting pitchers have compiled a 7-1 record and a 1.90 earned run average over the team's last 10 contests. Mike Leake, who gets the call for Dusty Baker's club in tonight's opener, has been particularly outstanding during that stretch, with the sophomore righty putting together two eight- inning efforts to nab two of those wins.

Leake scattered 10 hits and allowed two runs to down the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park on June 6, then followed up with a gem against San Francisco this past Saturday. The 2009 first-round draft choice yielded just four hits and struck out eight Giants batters in leading Cincy to a 10-2 rout.

The 23-year-old had a lackluster 5.70 ERA when he was sent down to Triple-A in mid-May, but has gone 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in four starts since being recalled from his brief stint in the minors.

Leake will have to deal with one of the hottest hitters going right now when he takes the mound tonight, however. Toronto's Adam Lind is batting a sizzling .429 (18-for-42) with seven homers and 15 RBI in 12 games since returning from a back injury that landed him on the disabled list, and went deep for the third consecutive day in the Blue Jays' matchup with Baltimore on Thursday.

Lind's efforts weren't enough to propel Toronto to a third straight win, however, as the Orioles scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to break open a tie game and held on for a 4-3 triumph.

The loss spoiled a strong big league debut from Blue Jays pitcher Zach Stewart, as the right-handed prospect allowed two runs and struck out four over the first seven innings despite not factoring in the final outcome.

"For the most part I was getting a bunch of outs with my sinker," said Stewart. "I threw that quite a bit [Thursday]. It was fun out there and hopefully there's many more to come."

Jose Bautista had a two-run single in the setback, Toronto's fifth in its last seven outings.

The Blue Jays will attempt to rebound tonight behind Jo-Jo Reyes, who'll be out to end a lengthy personal winless drought against National League opponents when he opposes Leake.

Reyes has lost 12 consecutive decisions to NL foes since besting the Reds all the way back on May 3, 2008, when then a member of the Atlanta Braves. In fact, the husky left-hander hasn't had much success of any sort at the major- league level over the past few years, having suffered 13 straight losses before finally breaking through with a complete-game eight-hitter in an 11-1 win over Cleveland on May 30.

The 26-year-old followed up with 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball to down Baltimore in his next start, but was saddled with another defeat last Friday after surrendering four runs over 6 1/3 frames against Boston.

Reyes is 1-1 with a 6.28 ERA in three career meetings with Cincinnati, all of which have come with the Braves. In his lone Great American Ball Park appearance, he was tagged for five runs before exiting after just 2 2/3 innings of a no-decision during the 2007 season.

Toronto has won six of its nine all-time bouts with the Reds and took two of three games from Cincinnati when the teams last met at the Rogers Centre in 2009. The Blue Jays' only previous trip to Cincinnati came in 2003, with the Reds winning twice in a three-game set.