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Arroyo, Reds crush Brewers, knock them out of first place

Aug 18, 2007 - 5:25 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds continued the Milwaukee Brewers' freefall, knocking them out of first place in the National League Central Division.

Bronson Arroyo threw 7 1/3 strong innings and Scott Hatteberg homered as the Reds posted an 8-3 victory over the Brewers on Friday.

Jeff Keppinger had two hits and scored three times for Cincinnati, which has won five of the eight meetings between the clubs this season.

Arroyo (6-13) was efficient, throwing 67-of-90 pitches for strikes and allowing just three runs and nine hits. He also struck out seven as the Reds notched their eighth win in 12 games.

"(They had) a lot of swings, lot of pop-ups, a lot of ground balls," Arroyo said. "It was probably the easiest start I had all year. They were being really aggressive."

Arroyo left with one out in the eighth after allowing solo home runs by Gabe Gross and J.J. Hardy.

"That's the least amount of pitches I've had through seven innings, maybe ever," Arroyo said. "It's kind of one of those days where it rolls. It would have been nice to finish with that pitch count, but (Jared) Burton did a great job coming in and locking that inning down. Those were a huge two outs that he got."

Hardy also homered in the third to record his second career multi-home run game for the Brewers (62-60), who own the best home record in the NL at 39-24 but fell one-half game behind the Chicago Cubs (62-59) for the division lead.

Cincinnati took a 3-1 lead into the sixth and Hatteberg extended it by leading off the frame with a homer off Brewers starter Jeff Suppan (8-10), who allowed four runs - three earned - and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Suppan was not worried about the team's recent struggles, though.

"We're playing together well as a team," Suppan said. "It might not look like it, but we are. I get so sick of answering questions about why we're lazy. We're doing everything we can to win. No one is lying down. We have to keep our focus through all of this because it's going to change."

Brandon Phillips and Ken Griffey Jr. each had RBI doubles in the first two innings and Arroyo scored in the fifth, when he doubled and came home when Corey Hart mishandled Keppinger's single to center field.

Milwuakee, which has lost a season-high five straight at home and 14 of 19 overall, has fallen out of first place for the first time since August 2 and only the second time since April 21.

"These guys haven't been playing their best baseball this season and I feel fortunate we're catching them at this time," Reds manager Pete Mackanin said. "Hopefully, we can come out of here with a couple more wins. That's an important thing when you're playing these teams, catching them at a down time rather than when they're hot. A lot of it is fortune."

Arroyo and the Reds benefited from some sloppy defense by the Brewers to put away the game in the seventh. Milwaukee committed two of its four errors in the frame and turned a double-play ball into two runs.

With the Reds already ahead, 4-1, Keppinger led off the frame with a single. Griffey then hit a bouncer to rookie third basemen Ryan Braun, who airmailed a throw into right field while trying to force out Keppinger at second.

Right fielder Gross sailed his throw back into the infield toward the tarp along the left field line, allowing both runners to score.

"I'm counting it - 591!" Griffey joked, referring to his career home run total. "I'm counting it (as a home run), even if they don't."

Adam Dunn added a majestic 455-foot two-run homer in the eighth - his 33rd of the season - for Cincinnati, which is 22-17 since Mackanin took over as interim manager on July 3.