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Kouzmanoff decides pitching duel with bases-loaded walk

May 17, 2007 - 6:19 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff may finally be coming of age.

Kouzmanoff drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning as the San Diego Padres came back for a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the rubber game of a three-game series.

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo and Padres starter Jake Peavy pitched as advertised but some untimely defensive lapses hurt Arroyo and he could not get out of the ninth inning.

After San Diego scored a run in the seventh to tie the contest, Khalil Greene opened the ninth against Arroyo (2-4) with a single to left field and Mike Cameron followed with a base hit past the dive of shortstop Alex Gonzalez for his third hit of the game. Josh Bard then chopped a swinging bunt back to Arroyo who threw wildly to third for a throwing error.

Kouzmanoff, who was 3-for-3 to raise his average to .163, took a 3-2 changeup from Arroyo that was borderline high, plating Greene with the winning run.

"(Arroyo) froze me. It was a very good pitch by him, right up around the letters or maybe even the belt. It froze me. It was a good pitch," Kouzmanoff said. "I hope (to have turned the corner). I'm just looking forward to the next game. I definitely feel a lot better."

"Big game for Kouz, I'm happy for him," Padres manager Bud Black said. "I've just seen better swings, better takes, balls coming off his bat better. We're seeing it in early work. We're seeing it in (batting practice) and in general."

Catcher David Ross argued with home plate umpire Ed Rapuano as Arroyo looked home incredulously. Arroyo was charged with three runs - one earned - and 10 hits in eight-plus innings.

"(Kouzmanoff) was swinging all night, pretty much at everything. I was very surprised he took the pitch," Arroyo said. "What really killed me was not throwing a chest high strike to (Freel) on the swinging bunt. We get that out, that gives us some room to breathe. Instead, I backed us into a corner."

Arroyo has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last eight starts, but has received a total of just three runs of support in his four losses this season.

Arroyo outpitched Peavy, but an infield hit by Cameron on a play that third baseman Ryan Freel should have made started a seventh-inning rally. Kouzmanoff followed with a base hit down the left field line and Cameron scored all the way from first when left fielder Adam Dunn tried to make a backhand stop and overran the play for an error.

Peavy allowed two runs and nine hits in seven innings and was denied his third straight win. He walked one and struck out five, snapping his streak of double-digit strikeouts at four consecutive games - a club record.

"I was just mad at the whole situation. I couldn't make the pitch I wanted to make. I was just a little bit off," Peavy said. "I knew we were having a hard time scoring runs, and I knew (Arroyo) was going to be tough. I was hoping, especially after that second run, that wasn't going to be too much to overcome, and it almost was."

Cincinnati reached the righthander for two runs in the first inning, when Brandon Phillips doubled home a run, extending his hitting streak to 19 games, and Dunn plated Phillips for a 2-0 lead.

"We came out and ran Peavy's pitch count up early but we had a couple of innings where we let him get right back into it," Reds manager Jerry Narron said.

Scott Linebrink tossed a scoreless eighth and closer Trevor Hoffman (2-2) worked the ninth for the win.