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Arroyo, Reds shut out Dodgers

Aug 8, 2007 - 3:41 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Cincinnati Reds starter Bronson Arroyo rebounded on Tuesday from his worst start of the season.

The righthander pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, leading the Reds to a 4-0 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a three-game series.

Arroyo (5-12) allowed six hits and struck out five one week after he surrendered seven runs on seven hits, lasting just 1 2/3 innings on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals, a 7-2 loss.

"I felt kind of middle of the road," Arroyo said. "I had a couple of quick innings that made me feel that I could manage the game. It was great to get off to a good start tonight. had a little better mix tonight than I did in Washington.

"One of the hard parts of this game is trying to figure out who is thinking along with you and who is just swinging the bat. It looked like they knew what was coming in the game at Washington."

The 30-year-old appeared to be on a path to punishment as he allowed singles to Juan Pierre and Jeff Kent in the first inning.

The temperature was 97 degrees at game time, the hottest in the five-season history of Great American Ball Park.

But it was Arroyo who turned up the heat as he struck out the Dodgers' leading RBI man, Russell Martin, and one of the toughest batters to strike out in the National League, Luis Gonzalez, sandwiched around Kent's hit.

"We were hoping he would rebound from his last start," Cincinnati interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "Arroyo can get hitters out, two ways. He can start them off with soft stuff and get them out with hard stuff or he can start them with hard stuff and get them out with soft stuff. When he was getting hit in Washington, it looked like they were sitting on his soft stuff."

Arroyo survived more trouble in the third inning. After a double by pitcher Mark Hendrickson and an error by Brandon Phillips, Arroyo coaxed a double-play ground ball from Martin.

He retired the next eight batters before Rafael Furcal reached on an error by Jeff Conine. Pierre singled him to second with no outs but Arroyo caught Martin looking at a 3-2 pitch and got fly ball outs from Kent and Gonzalez.

The Dodgers threatened again in the eighth inning, as Pierre and Martin reached against Jared Burton to begin the inning. However, Arroyo got Kent to ground into a double play before Gonzalez hit a slow roller to first base to end the inning.

David Weathers retired the Dodgers in order in the ninth to preserve the win for Arroyo.

Cincinnati jumped on Hendrickson in the first inning, scoring three times with two outs. After Adam Dunn plated Norris Hopper with a single, Edwin Encarnacion stroked a double to left field, driving in Phillips and Dunn.

Phillips hit his 21st home run of the season to lead off the third inning. The solo blast extended Cincinnati's lead to 4-0.

Hendrickson (4-6) settled down after the rough start. The lefthander gave up just one base hit after Phillips' home run.

The 33-year-old scattered seven hits over six innings and surrendered four runs.

Pierre had three hits for Los Angeles.