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GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- It was a rough Saturday afternoon in a tough
season for the Cincinnati Reds.
Ken Griffey Jr. and Pokey Reese left the game with minor
injuries, reliever Manny Aybar was thrown out for hitting Tony
Womack with a pitch and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Reds 9-6,
Cincinnati's first loss at Bank One Ballpark.
Jay Bell singled, doubled and tripled and Steve Finley hit his
third home run in four games for the Diamondbacks.
Alex Cabrera, in his fifth game since being called up from
Double-A El Paso, was 3-for-3 with three RBIs but left the game
after straining his left groin running out an RBI double in the
fourth inning.
Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter was unhappy with home plate
umpire Paul Emmel's strike zone and livid about Aybar's pitch that
hit Womack in the right knee.
"I'm sure it was very entertaining for the fans," Showalter
said. "It wasn't real comfortable on our bench, but we got a win
and we've got two tough games left against Cincinnati."
Going into the game, the Reds were 7-0 in Phoenix since the
Diamondbacks came into the league in 1998, but Arizona jumped on
starter Osvaldo Fernandez for five runs in the third inning, three
of them on Finley's 23rd homer of the season.
"We hate to lose here for the first time," Reds manager Jack
McKeon said, "but I guess all good things must come to an end."
Griffey twisted his right knee when he dodged out of the way of shortstop
Barry Larkin as the two players converged on Luis Gonzalez's bloop single to short center field in the fourth. After
being examined by the trainer and finished the inning, Griffey was
lifted for pinch-hitter Alex Ochoa in the fifth.
Reese was hit in the left wrist by a pitch from Armando Reynoso
leading off the fifth. In obvious pain, he left the game
immediately. X-rays were negative, and the injury was diagnosed as
a bruise.
Griffey and Reese left without talking to reporters, but McKeon
said neither injury was serious.
"Pokey's was not bad," McKeon said. "I was planning to give
him the day off tomorrow anyway. Junior's not bad, either. He
didn't want to come out of the game, but we went ahead and took him
out at the end of the inning."
Reynoso also hit Griffey with a pitch in the first inning, but
it was a pitch that almost hit Aybar in the fifth that led to the
ejection.
When Aybar hit Womack with a pitch with two outs in the fifth,
Emmel immediately threw the Reds reliever out of the game.
"I thought the same thing the umpire did," Showalter said.
"It was obvious. Anybody who thinks we're trying to hit Pokey
Reese, or trying to hit a pitcher, that's pretty frightening if
that's the way somebody thinks. I'm sure they're a little
embarrassed about it."
McKeon said he was puzzled by the incident.
"The umpire said Aybar thought the pitcher was throwing at him.
That's the umpire's story," McKeon said. "I didn't know what he
was mad about."
Aybar denied throwing at Womack.
"Today I had trouble with my control," Aybar said. "I wanted
to throw a fastball in. I was not trying to hit anybody."
Aybar had to be restrained by McKeon and Cincinnati coach Ron
Oester as the three left the field. Arizona pitcher Todd
Stottlemyre, on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right
knee, also charged the field and had to be restrained.
Russ Springer (2-2) gave up a hit in 1 2-3 innings of relief to
get the victory. Byung-Hyun Kim retired the side in order in the
ninth for his 13th save in 15 opportunities. He has retired the
last 15 batters he's faced, 11 by strikeout.
Fernandez (2-2) took the loss in his worst outing in eight
starts since being called up from Triple-A Louisville. Fernandez
allowed seven runs on seven hits in 2 1-3 innings. He struck out
one and walked two.
It was a welcome explosion for the Arizona offense, which often
has struggled this season.
"We've had about a month's span where we didn't swing the bats
too well," Bell said. "Hopefully this is a start of something
good."
Dante Bichette hit a two-run home run, his 13th homer of the
season, in the first. Aaron Boone hit a solo homer off the
left-field foul pole in the fourth. Michael Tucker had a two-run
triple as the Reds scored three times in the fifth to cut the lead
to 9-6. Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and scored twice.
Game notes
Finley, historically a streak hitter, had gone 20 games
without a homer before his latest binge began against Houston on
Wednesday. ... Bell had his three hits in his first three at-bats
and had two chances to complete the cycle with a home run. He
popped out in the fifth and lined out in the seventh. ... Reliever
Vincente Padilla became the third Arizona player this week to get a
hit in his first major league at-bat when he singled in the
seventh. ... Cincinnati has lost seven of eight on the road.
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