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  Friday, Jun. 16 9:05pm ET
Hoffman nabs 15th save
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Bret Boone couldn't help but show a little bit of emotion as he tossed his bat aside and watched his three-run homer sail out of the park in the first inning.

"That was big," Boone said after helping the Padres to an 8-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, in which eight runs came on homers.

Boone and the other two Padres who drove in runs, Carlos Hernandez and Phil Nevin, had all been struggling recently. Boone came in hitting .251, Nevin .290 and Hernandez .270.

Nevin hit a two-run single in the five-run first, which Boone capped with his homer, and Hernandez added a two-run homer and an RBI single.

"It kind of started off good, a couple of guys who were scuffling a little bit," Boone said. "Phil's been scuffling and came up with the bases loaded and got 0-2 and battled back to put a tough pitch in the hole. That kind of started us out. We needed that and Phil needed that. That was a big hit for us."

The Reds, who swept the Padres in Cincinnati in mid-May, got a leadoff homer from Pokey Reese and two other solo shots, by Sean Casey and pinch-hitter Chris Stynes.

The Padres snapped their three-game losing streak while Cincinnati lost its fourth straight game. Hernandez drove in the Padres final three runs, with his home run in the third and RBI single in the eighth. Both runs on his home run were unearned because of second baseman Reese's fielding error. San Diego's Ryan Klesko scored three times.

San Diego jumped ahead 5-1 in the first inning, but the lead did nothing to help starter Brian Meadows, who was pulled with one out in the third after giving up Aaron Boone's RBI single that pulled the Reds to 5-4. It was the second-shortest start of the season for Meadows, whose shortest was two innings in a win at Atlanta on May 19.

Carlos Reyes (1-2) got the win with 2 2-3 scoreless innings of relief. He didn't allow a hit, struck out three and walked two. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 16 opportunities.

Steve Parris (2-10) became the first pitcher in the majors to lose 10 games this season. Leading 1-0 thanks to Reese's leadoff homer, Parris allowed four straight singles opening the Padres' first inning, including Nevin's two-run base hit with the bases loaded. Boone homered to left with one out, his ninth, to make it 5-1.

"There's no real need for any quotes tonight," Parris told reporters. "It's an easy one to write."

Parris fell behind in the count too much, "and it's tough to pitch that way," catcher Eddie Taubensee said.

"He's not getting anybody out," manager Jack McKeon said.

The Reds closed the gap on Casey's homer leading off the second and Eddie Taubensee's RBI single, and Aaron Boone's third-inning single.

Hernandez's homer in the third provided the eventual winning margin, giving the Padres a 7-4 lead. Stynes homered leading off the sixth to cut it to 7-5, hitting the first pitch from reliever Matt Whiteside to left-center.

Reese and Casey each hit their fourth homer, while Stynes' was his second.

Parris allowed six hits and seven runs, five earned, in three innings. Meadows allowed four runs and eight hits.

Game notes
Second base umpire Joe Brinkman left the game in the middle of the first inning with a torn calf muscle. ... Reds 3B Aaron Boone started Friday night for the first time since he suffered a broken nose when he was hit by a pitch by Russ Ortiz on Tuesday at San Francisco. ... Drawn by a post-game fireworks show, the crowd of 60,767 was the largest in the majors this year. San Diego's second-round draft pick, 1B Xavier Nady of the University of California, visited the Padres on Friday and took batting practice and grounders. The Padres think it'll be tough to sign Nady because he had been projected to go in the top half of the first round but slid down to the second round. Also, he's represented by Scott Boras, known as a tough negotiator. ... RHP Woody Williams, who had an aneurysm in his right armpit surgically repaired on May 4, threw 60 pitches in a simulated game and said he felt good. He anticipates making two rehab starts and hopes to be back in time to start at Texas on either July 8 or 9, right before the All-Star break.
 


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