• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Reds hand Arroyo ball in finale with Mariners

Jul 7, 2013 - 2:16 PM (Sports Network) - Bronson Arroyo most likely hopes the Cincinnati Reds have some runs left in them when they shoot for a series win over the Seattle Mariners Sunday at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds exploded for a 13-4 win versus the Mariners on Saturday to even this three-game set and will send Arroyo to the mound in the series finale. Arroyo benefited from the rain his last time out on Monday in a shortened 8-1 win over San Francisco and allowed one run and two hits.

It was a vast improvement from his previous start, a 7-3 loss at Oakland on June 25 in which he gave up seven runs and seven hits in four innings. Arroyo, who is 7-6 with a 3.50 earned run average in 17 starts, has dominated at home to the tune of a 6-1 mark in 11 starts. In four career meetings (3 starts) with Seattle, the right-hander is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA.

Arroyo's teammate, Mat Latos, was the beneficiary of the recent 13-run explosion and didn't have his best stuff, but received the win. Latos was reached for four runs and six hits in six innings with 11 strikeouts and four walks. Latos settled down after giving up a 3-1 lead by the third inning.

"After putting us in that hole it was a big relief to me that the guys backed me up and put up some runs," said Latos, who added a two-RBI double.

Four relief pitchers kept Seattle off the board.

Jay Bruce scored four times and drove in three runs, Cesar Izturis also had three RBI and Jack Hannahan went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored for the Reds, who have won four of five games and are third in the NL Central, 3 1/2 games off the pace.

The Reds currently own the most home wins in the National League at 30-15 and have won 16 of the last 25 games played at Great American Ball Park. Boston leads the majors in home wins at 31-16.

Cincinnati is scheduled to start a seven-game road trip Monday against Milwaukee and Atlanta and will be represented well in the upcoming All-Star Game. First baseman Joey Votto and second baseman Brandon Phillips were named starters and will be joined by relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman.

Seattle had won three of four games before Saturday's loss in which veteran starting pitcher Jeremy Bonderman permitted six runs and seven hits in five innings with four K's and five walks. Carter Capps then yielded three runs and Danny Farquhar was touched for four -- two earned.

"He just had trouble getting through innings," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said of Bonderman. "You know, all those two-out RBIs they got tonight really killed us."

Kyle Seager went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI to extend his hitting streak to seven games for the Mariners, who have hit at least one home run in each of the last 14 games (24 total). Seattle outfielder Raul Ibanez did not play Saturday and has hit in 11 straight games.

The Mariners will be sending a pair of pitchers to the All-Star Game, as Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma were named to the AL roster. After Sunday's matchup in Cincinnati, the Mariners will return home for seven games versus Boston and the LA Angels.

Seattle will send Joe Saunders to the hill against the Reds and he was able to get back into the win column his previous time out. Saunders beat Texas in Tuesday's 9-2 victory and allowed only two runs -- one earned -- in 6 2/3 innings, but did give up 10 hits.

Saunders is 6-8 in 17 starts with a 4.74 ERA and 2-5 in nine road assignments. The left-hander is winless (0-2) in four career starts against the Reds and has a 6.04 ERA in that stretch.

The Mariners, who are 9-2 all-time against the Reds, swept a three-game set when the teams last played in Cincinnati in 2002 and are making their first trip to Great American Ball Park.