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Church powers Nationals past Reds

May 24, 2007 - 5:51 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Apparently inspired by teammate Felipe Lopez the night before, Ryan Church decided he would take his turn putting a hurt on the Cincinnati Reds.

Church hit two homers and added a career-high six RBI as the Washington Nationals posted a 12-7 victory over the Reds on Wednesday.

Felipe Lopez, who hit a grand slam and plated six runs in Tuesday's contest, opened the game with a single and set the table for Church, who wasted little time putting Washington out in front, belting a two-run homer over the fence in right off Cincinnati starter Kyle Lohse (1-6).

Church struck again in the seventh off reliever Todd Coffey - a solo shot - to stake the Nationals to a 9-1 lead. After the Reds had pulled within 9-5 in their half of the seventh, Church cleared the bases with a three-run double to extend the Washington bulge to 12-5 in the eighth.

"It was one of those nights where I was getting my pitch to hit," Church said. "My forearm is a little swollen. It swelled after my first AB (at-bat) but I can play through it. I'm just not trying to press and keep hitting the ball."

Brian Schneider blasted a two-run home run in the fourth for the Nationals, who won back-to-back games in a single series at Cincinnati for the first time since April 5-6, 2002.

The 12-run outburst marked the second time in consecutive games that Washington set a season high in runs, and is the most the team has scored in a game since April 8, 2006, against Houston.

"I'm glad our offense came around, we really need it," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "You have to manage until the end in this park. I'd have loved to give (reliever Jesus) Colome the night off but five runs is nothing here. As you see when you start walking guys with those big hitters, they can catch up in a hurry."

Schneider knew the offense needed to stay focused.

"We knew this game was not over by any means," Schneider said. "This is a good park to hit in (so) we better take advantage of it. Our pitchers have been carrying us long enough. You still have to hit the ball. Most of the balls we hit would have still been out in Washington but some would have just been to the warning track."

Jason Simontacchi (2-2), who missed each of the last two seasons due to lingering problems stemming from shoulder surgery in 2004, kept the Reds in check over 5 1/3 innings after surrendering a leadoff homer to Ryan Freel in the bottom of the first.

"Simontacchi had trouble with the ball up in the zone but he mixed his pitches," Schneider said. "He made his adjustments and started to get ahead of hitters again."

The 33-year-old righthander yielded one run and four hits with three walks and four strikeouts to pick up his first road win since June 18, 2003.

"Simontacchi did a good job to hold them to one run in this park," Acta said. "He was laboring at the end. We know with certain guys when they start to labor. You don't want to squeeze five more pitches out of them."

Simontacchi gave way to reliever Saul Rivera, who set down the last two hitters in the sixth to get out of the inning. The Nationals' bullpen, however, encountered problems in the seventh after setting down the first two Reds batters in order.

Rivera, along with fellow relievers Ray King and Winston Abreu, allowed the next six Cincinnati hitters to reach base, helping the Reds to cut the eight-run deficit in half, 9-5. King was ejected by home umpire Lance Barksdale in the bottom of the seventh for arguing balls and strikes.

"In this park, you have to keep playing," Church said. "We were up, 9-5, with the bases loaded. You still have to keep hitting. Tip your hat to them for coming back."

Lohse became the first Reds starter in 13 years to lose in six straight appearances, allowing seven runs - six earned - and nine hits with three strikeouts. John Smiley was the last Cincinnati starter to lose six in a row from May 13-June 8, 1994.

"Not to make excuses for him, but he's been sick the last couple days but he took the ball," Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron said. "He was not even close to 100 percent."

"A couple of days ago, I didn't even make it to the park," Lohse said. "I didn't play catch until yesterday. I talked him into letting me try. We don't have a lot of options. I thought I could do it but it didn't work out very well."

Freel had three hits and scored three times for Cincinnati, which fell to 6-16 in the month of May.

Narron, whose team in now tied with Washington for the worst record in baseball, met with team owner Bob Castellini before the game.

"It was very encouraging and very positive," Narron said. "It was short and to the point."