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Lohse hurls complete game as struggling Reds top Pirates

May 28, 2007 - 10:30 PM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Kyle Lohse has been one of the main culprits for the struggling Cincinnati Reds. But on Monday, both Lohse and the Reds turned it around in a big way.

Lohse hurled a six-hitter and David Ross smacked a two-run homer as the Reds snapped a season-high six-game skid with a 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday afternoon.

The game was marred by a collision between Reds outfielders Ryan Freel and Norris Hopper, which sent Freel off the field in an ambulance after he slammed his head on the ground. The third-year outfielder was diagnosed with a contusion on his head and neck after tests at Good Samaritan Hospital.

"I felt something hit my elbow hard," Hopper said. "When I watched the replay I saw it was his head. He hit the ground hard but he was limp. I went over and he was unconscious. I yelled four times in his ear, 'Freel, Freel.' It scared me. Slowly he opened his eyes. I told him to stay down, they're coming."

"That was scary. Thankfully, reports are good," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "Hopefully, we'll see him in a couple days."

It was a much better day for the rest of the Reds (19-33), who own the league's worst record and had dropped 20 of their last 25 contests entering the game. With the win, Cincinnati avoided a four-game sweep.

A struggling righthander, Lohse (2-6) had allowed five or more runs in four of his past six starts before this outing. But the veteran hurler had his good stuff on Monday, snapping a career-high six-game losing streak.

"I don't even count the last couple starts. My head wasn't in it," Lohse said. "I'm trying to get my strength back after losing eight or nine pounds because I was sick. I was too tentative the last couple games. I tried to make the perfect pitch and either didn't get the call or get batters to swing at them."

Lohse was not overpowering, using just 105 pitches to hurl his first complete game since 2004 and fourth career shutout. He forced hitters to put the ball in play, allowing just six hits and did not walk a batter - while striking out two.

"The defense really picked me up today," Lohse said. "When they do that, it gives you confidence to pound it in there. It's rare when you have just two strikeouts but have a good game."

With runners on first and third with one out in the eighth, he got some help from his defense. Pirates outfielder Chris Duffy ripped a grounder at first baseman Scott Hatteberg, who knocked it down, stepped on first and gunned down Humberto Cota at the plate to end the threat.

"You got to give them credit," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "Lohse pitched ahead in the count all day and had some help especially from the left side of the infield. Duffy hit the ball hard right at Hatteberg or we'd have had a run if it was another inch or two over. We hit into tough luck, but we didn't lose today, they beat us."

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Reds gave Lohse all the support he would need. Alex Gonzalez was issued a leadoff walk, and after Hopper flied out to right, Ross blasted a prodigious homer to left field off Pirates starter Ian Snell (4-4) to make it 2-0.

"Do you want to talk about Lohse, Edwin's (Encarnacion's) plays or if you have enough paper left, my fence scraper?" Ross asked. "We needed a big outing like that with the way our bullpen has struggled."

Snell allowed three runs and five hits in seven frames, while walking two and striking out six for Pittsburgh, which missed sweeping a four-game set in Cincinnati for the first time since July 11-14, 1991.

"Snell was very good. The only pitch he'd like to have back was the 2-2 pitch to Ross," Tracy said. "He tried to bounce it but left it up just enough."

"It was a good pitch. I hate to make excuses but this park is a joke," Snell said. "It would have never gone out in (Pittsburgh's) PNC (Park), not even close. Give him credit, though. He hit it off his shoestrings."

Pittsburgh has not won more than three straight vs. the Reds since winning five in a row during the 2004 campaign.