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Arroyo, Reds deal Cubs sixth straight loss

Sep 6, 2008 - 4:32 AM By Doug Tifft PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds added to the Chicago Cubs' misery on Friday night.

Arroyo continued his run of stellar pitching and was aided by a pair of home runs from rookies as the Reds dealt the Cubs their sixth straight loss with a 10-2 victory.

Arroyo (14-10), the reigning National League Co-Player of the Week, surrendered one run and four hits and struck out six in 6 1/3 innings to improve to 10-3 with a 3.14 ERA over his last 13 starts dating back to June 29.

"I felt good tonight," Arroyo said. "There was good energy in the crowd tonight. I painted a couple of guys (on the corner) in the first inning and got three strikeouts. So that kind of set the tone."

"He's getting on a roll right here," Baker said. "We'll just try to ride it all the way to the end of the season and hope it carries over."

Arroyo was given some early run support by Joey Votto, whose two-run homer in the first inning was the first baseman's third in as many days.

Making his own case for the NL Rookie of the Year on the same field as presumptive favorite Geovany Soto, Votto had two hits, two runs and three RBI to improve his average to .396 (38-for-96) with four home runs and 24 RBI over his last 26 games.

"This guy has been hot," Reds manager Dusty Baker said of Votto. "He works hard, he studies a lot and it is paying off."

Votto was part of a second-inning rally that ended the night for Chicago lefthander Ted Lilly, as his bases-loaded walk, along with Jeff Keppinger's RBI double and Edwin Encarnacion's sacrifice fly, gave the Reds a 5-0 advantage.

Lilly (13-9) allowed five runs, four hits and three walks in two innings, his shortest outing of the season.

After Lilly exited, rookie right fielder Jay Bruce put the game out of reach in the fourth, when Chicago reliever Jon Lieber loaded the bases with two outs and Bruce took his fastball 391 feet to the opposite field for his first career grand slam.

"It was actually the first grand slam of my whole life," Bruce said. "I have had a lot of firsts this year, and to be up here helping this ballclub win feels really good."

Arroyo cruised for the first six innings before getting into trouble in the seventh, issuing a leadoff walk to Jim Edmonds and an RBI double to Koyie Hill. But by that point, the Cubs had essentially thrown in the towel. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Soto and Mark DeRosa were taken out of the game in the sixth with the club down by nine runs.

"We've struggled the last week, the last five, six games," Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano said. "We have to figure out how to get out of this. I know it's going to come. Good teams get out of slumps. When we come back, we'll be better."

Hill had two hits for the Cubs in his first major league appearance since nearly severing all the fingers on his right hand in a table-saw accident last September.