Dynamic Duo too much for Chisox

Arroyo outfoxes White Sox hitters; Phillips supplies power with homer, sac fly in 4-3 win.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo throws against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning Friday, June 19, in Cincinnati. Associated Press photo by David Kohl

David Kohl/FRE Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo throws against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning Friday, June 19, in Cincinnati. Associated Press photo by David Kohl

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By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 1:03 AM Saturday, June 20, 2009

CINCINNATI — Bronson and Brandon, first names only a few letters apart from being the same, combined in different ways to provide the Cincinnati Reds with a 4-3 interleague victory over the Chicago White Sox on a soggy humidity-drenched night.

Bronson Arroyo provided the pitching — 6 2/3 innings, two runs, two hits, four walks, seven strikeouts to annex his first victory in four starts.

Brandon Phillips provided the batwork — a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly to drive in three runs for the hit-starved Reds.

On this night they sprayed 11 hits around Great American Ball Park, but the game remained close because they were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Nevertheless it was a major accomplishment because the Reds had lost nine straight interleague games to the White Sox and were 2-12 overall.

Arroyo (8-5) made two mistakes and they were back-to-back and they cost him two runs. He issued a two-out walk to Ramon Castro in the fourth and Chris Getz followed with his first major-league home run after 176 career at-bats.

“I had good stuff and was in a good flow and that takes your mind off the heat,” said Arroyo. “They had a bunch of right-handers in the middle of the order with some power and I got lucky to beat them in the head game.

“I was lucky to get Jermaine Dye a couple of times (two strikeouts) and those guys hadn’t seen me in a long time and I hadn’t seen them in a long time, so it was a guessing game.”

Down 2-0, the Reds retrieved one run in the fourth on back-to-back two-out doubles to right by Laynce Nix and Ramon Hernandez.

Jerry Hairston Jr. singled to open the sixth and Phillips drove his 11th home run into the left field seats for 3-2 lead.

The Reds made it 4-2 in the seventh when leadoff hitter Chris Dickerson doubled, his second hit (one more than Willy Taveras has in his last 45 at-bats). Hairston singled again, pushing Dickerson to third, and Phillips lifted a sacrifice fly to left.

Phillips seemed disappointed with the sacrifice fly, believing he should have hit it better and said, “Yeah, I was disappointed. But it was a sacrifice fly, so I’ll take it.”

Asked what pitch he smashed for his home run, Phillips said cryptically, “I don’t know what it was. It was a home run pitch.”

The sacrifice fly run was necessary when closer Coco Cordero gave up a first-pitch home run to Paul Konerko to open the ninth. Cordero also put the tying run on base via Brian Anderson’s two-out single, but it ended on Gordon Beckham’s fielder’s choice.

Manager Dusty Baker benched Willy Taveras for one night, replacing him with Chris Dickerson, who responded with two hits, including a bunt to open the bottom of the first.

Hairston then successfully bunted him to second and he took third on a grounder by Phillips but was stranded when Nix, who had two hits later, flied to left.

“We haven’t bunted much this season,” said Dickerson. “As much as we work on it, as much as we stress it, doing early work with (coach) Billy Hatcher and working on bunts every time we step in the cage, we never use it. We lay down good bunts in the cage and he says, ‘When are you going to use it, when are you going to use it?’ I figured today would be a good day, especially after I heard (third baseman) Beckham was average and you could test him.”

Dickerson won’t play tonight or Sunday, though. Lefthanders are starting and Baker plans to re-insert Taveras at leadoff and in center field.

“It was a good game for us, and the fans (28,395), and it was warm like our players like it,” said Baker. “When Arroyo locates his fastball and has good velocity you can tell he’s on, when he throws 88 to 92. His whole thing is location. When he has it with his fastball, he’s good because it sets up his breaking stuff.”

Civil Rights Game

What: Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago White Sox

When: 7:40 p.m. at Great American Ball Park

Fifth Street by the Square: 2 to 7 p.m. kids can test their skills in batting cages, pitching mounds and base running. Free.

On-field ceremonies: At 6:50 p.m., Hank Aaron, Muhammad Ali and Bill Cosby will be honored. Gospel singer BeBe Winans will sing the national anthem, and country singer Rissi Palmer will sing “America the Beautiful.”

First pitch: Former Reds star, Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.

TV: FS Ohio

Radio: WONE-AM (980); WLW-AM (700)

Online: Get the latest on the Reds with Hal McCoy’s blog at DaytonDailyNews.com/reds

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