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Phillips Leads Reds Over Cards
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CINCINNATI (AP) - Brandon Phillips' day off did him a lot ofgood. Phillips hit a three-run triple in Cincinnati's four-run seventhinning and the Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Thursdaynight. The Reds second baseman was in a 2-for-18 rut after Cincinnati's7-2 loss Tuesday to St. Louis, prompting manager Dusty Baker torest him Wednesday. "I don't like them, but it paid off," Phillips said about daysoff. "I think it really helped me out. I really didn't do anythingyesterday. I felt like I had a lot of energy. It paid off." Cincinnati put together the winning rally against relievers MarkWorrell (0-1) and Randy Flores. David Ross hit a one-out double andAndy Phillips walked. Flores replaced Worrell and got CoreyPatterson to ground into a fielder's choice before issuing walks torookie Paul Janish and Ken Griffey Jr. to force in the go-aheadrun. "The walks were out of character," Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said. "We weren't aggressive like we usually are." Brandon Phillips followed with his fifth triple of the year, adrive down the right-field line that got past a lunging RyanLudwick and bounced into the corner. "I was looking for a ball to drive," Phillips said. Jared Burton (3-1) struck out two in 1 2-3 scoreless innings forthe Reds, who ended the Cardinals' four-game winning streak. TheReds had lost seven of their last 10 games. Joel Pineiro allowed two runs and three hits over five inningsin his first start for St. Louis since May 20. Pineiro wasactivated from the 15-day disabled list before the game after beingsidelined with a strained right groin. "Obviously, you want to put zeros up there, but with notpitching in 21 or 22 days, it was good," Pineiro said. Pitcher Bronson Arroyo's third-inning single was the Reds' onlyhit off Pineiro before Edwin Encarnacion led off the fifth with adouble off the left-field wall. Encarnacion advanced to third whenPineiro's errant pickoff attempt went into center field and scoredon David Ross' suicide squeeze. "David's a good bunter," Baker said. "He works at it. He gotthe sign. That's what baseball's all about - getting the sign andexecuting." Arroyo followed with a homer into the left-field seats, thefirst home run by a Reds pitcher this season and the fourth of hiscareer. Two were against Baker's Cubs team in 2006, Arroyo's firstseason with the Reds. "I was like, 'Yeah, man,"' Baker said. "I remember the two hehit previously against me. He finally got one for me." "Once a year, I get lucky," Arroyo said. "I hope I'm able tosay that for the next 10 years. I remember looking over at Dustyafter that second one (in 2006) and seeing him shaking his head." Arroyo allowed just two hits and one walk in six scorelessinnings before his forearm started cramping up after the sixthinning. The gametime temperature was 85 degrees, and it neverdropped below 80. "I haven't had that before," Arroyo said of the cramps. "Iwas depleted. I was sweating more than I had all year. I felt likeI'd given Dusty all I had to give. I felt like I wasn't going to beable to give him any more quality innings." The Cardinals tied it in the seventh, taking advantage ofEncarnacion's throwing error on Rick Ankiel's grounder to third.Troy Glaus followed with his eighth home run of the season.Notes: Reds OF Jay Bruce didn't start but hit for Burton in theeighth and doubled to right. He stayed in to play left field in theninth. Bruce started each of his first 16 games with Cincinnati.... The Cardinals made room for Pineiro on the active roster byplacing 1B Albert Pujols on the 15-day DL, retroactive toWednesday, with a strained left calf. ... The Reds announced thatformer major league pitcher Jerry Walker had been hired as aspecial assistant for player personnel for general manager WaltJocketty. Walker, who pitched for three teams in eight years from1957 through 1963, spent 13 years working for St. Louis whenJocketty was the Cardinals general manager.

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