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Encarncion's walk-off hit lifts Reds to third straight win

Jul 28, 2007 - 5:43 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Edwin Encarnacion's walk-off single lifted the Cincinnati Reds to its third consecutive win, a 5-4 triumph over the Chicago Cubs in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

Encarnacion sent a full-count offering from Cubs reliever Bob Howry (5-6) down the left field line past diving third baseman Aramis Ramirez to plate Norris Hopper for the game-winning run.

Hopper led off the ninth inning with a single to right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Juan Castro, which set the stage for Encarnacion to deliver his second RBI of the contest.

Encarnacion gave the Reds a 2-1 advantage in the fourth inning with his first home run since July 7, a solo shot to left.

"It was good to see Edwin come up big," Cincinnati interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "He's been feeling bad about himself lately. He wants to contribute and he is capable of doing big things in this lineup."

Mark DeRosa and Jason Kendall each had RBI singles in the ninth inning off David Weathers (2-3) to tie the game at 4-4. The Cubs nearly took the lead on Mike Fontenot's base hit to center, but Jacque Jones was thrown out at home by Reds center fielder Ryan Freel.

"I didn't expect Freel to throw him out," Mackanin said. "He's the kind of guy that can make plays like that."

Cubs current manager and Cincinnati's former manager tipped his cap to Freel.

"That guy in center field made a heck of a play," Piniella said. "I didn't expect Jones to be thrown out. That was a major league play."

Freel charged the ground single hard. He bare-handed it and came up throwing. Catcher David Ross held onto the ball through the ensuing collision.

"The throw was perfect," Ross said. "If it had been on the plate the run might have scored. It took me up the line right into the runner's path. I'm bigger than he is. I'm a fat guy who can get in the way. I have bigger love handles than he does."

Jones did not see the play unfold but sensed a collision.

"It would have slowed me down if I turned to watch the play but when I saw the ball, I knew I had to drop him (Ross)," Jones said.

Chicago's ninth-inning heroics did not result in a victory but it did ruin a terrific outing by Bronson Arroyo, who gave up two unearned runs and four hits with a walk and five strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings.

"Of course it's disappointing not to get the win," Arroyo said. "That's what you try to do every time out but it's a win for the team."

The Reds won on a walk-off single by Javier Valentin on Thursday and had a walk-off, extra-inning game against Milwaukee on Monday.

"It could be coincidence but it could be some confidence building," Arroyo said. "Those are games we lost earlier. Now when we're behind of tied, we feel we can win."

"What I like is we didn't panic when they tied the game," Mackanin said.

The 30-year-old Arroyo suffered from bad defense in the first inning when Ryan Theriot's base hit was misplayed by Ken Griffey Jr., going between the right fielder's legs and to the wall, allowing Theriot to advance to third base. Derrek Lee followed with a sacrifice fly to center, plating Theriot.

After surrendering a double to DeRosa in the second inning, Arroyo did not allow another hit until DeRosa lined a single to left with two outs in the seventh.

Arroyo, who threw 123 pitches, was relieved after yielding an RBI double to Theriot in the eighth, cutting the Reds' lead to 4-2. Weathers then entered and struck out Lee to end the threat.

"You have to go with your best guy in the eighth inning in a game like this," Mackanin said.

"We've used Weathers a lot lately," Arroyo said. "I wanted to make it through the eighth."

Cincinnati tied the game, 1-1, in the third when Brandon Phillips' two-out double plated Freel.

Cubs starter Rich Hill lasted just five innings, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.

The start of the game was delayed for an hour, 27 minutes by rain.