Tuesday, July 30, 2013
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Denorfia's pinch-hit HR lifts Padres over Reds

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[July 30, 2013]  SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Chris Denorfia hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the San Diego Padres a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

Chapman (3-4) walked leadoff batter Yonder Alonso on a 3-2 pitch, then Denorfia drove a 98 mph first-pitch offering from Chapman over the center-field fence 423 feet away to deal the Reds their fourth straight loss.

Luke Gregerson (5-5) pitched the ninth for the win.

Mike Leake and Sean O'Sullivan, two San Diego natives, matched up against each other. Leake went seven scoreless innings, allowing four singles.

O'Sullivan, making his third start for the season for the Padres, went six innings and allowed one run on five hits. He walked five and struck out one.

Reds center fielder Derrick Robinson led off the fifth with a triple off the fence in left-center. He scored when Cesar Izturis hit a grounder to first, which Alonso grabbed, touched first base for the putout then fired home, but Robinson just beat the throw to catcher Nick Hundley.

That snapped a scoreless streak of 22 innings for the Reds going back to the second inning of Saturday night's game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. They have scored just three runs in their last four games.

Cincinnati loaded the bases in the fifth, but O'Sullivan got Devin Mesoraco to hit a grounder to short.

The teams combined to leave 15 runners on base through the first five innings -- nine for the Reds. They also left the bases loaded in the first, while the Padres left them loaded in the third.

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Leake got Mark Kotsay to ground to first baseman Joey Votto with the bases loaded to end the third.

The only batter to reach after the third against Leake was Everth Cabrera, who got on with an infield single leading off the fifth, but he was caught stealing by Mesoraco. Cabrera had two of the four hits off Leake.

NOTES: Reds OF Shin-Soo Choo is listed as day-to-day after twisting his left ankle stealing second Sunday in Los Angeles. . Reds 2B Brandon Phillips was also not in the starting lineup Monday. Reds manager Dusty Baker had told Phillips before Sunday's game that he would get the day off. "I like to give the guys from the All-Star team a day off even after they get back after the All-Star game," Baker said. Cesar Izturis got the start at second for the Reds. . Baker was asked about Yasiel Puig's slide at home after his game-winning home run Sunday that beat the Reds for the Dodgers. "When I saw the ball go over the fence, I went into the clubhouse," Baker said. "I don't care. He can do what he wants. That's up to them to handle it. When I saw the ball go off the bat, I gathered my stuff and went in." . Reds P Jonathan Broxton, on the DL since June 15 (flexor mass sprain in his right elbow) will begin a rehab assignment in Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday ... Padres OF Carlos Quentin tweaked his left knee on a swing in Sunday's game in Arizona and was not in the starting lineup, but was available to pinch hit, according to Padres manager Bud Black.

[Associated Press]

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