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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) -- Something about playing in Arizona brings out the
best in the Cincinnati Reds.
It happened again Monday, when Steve Parris and the Reds beat
the Diamondbacks 3-2 and sent Brian Anderson to his first loss at
home in 1½ years.
| | Cincinnati's Chris Stynes crosses the plate behind Arizona catcher Damian Miller on Dante Bichette's first-inning sacrifice fly. | Alex Ochoa homered to help the Reds win consecutive games for
the first time in nearly a month.
"This is as good as we've played all year long," said Dante
Bichette, who was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly. "I don't know what
it is, but we really stepped up this series and played good
baseball. We got some pitching, and some of the guys later in the
lineup have really started to hit."
Parris (4-11) won on the road for the first time since April 16,
striking out a season-high six in 6 2/3 innings. Parris, who
allowed one run and seven hits, had been 0-5 in seven road starts
since beating Los Angeles on April 16 at Dodger Stadium.
Parris' 11 losses already are the most by a Reds' right-hander
since Jay Tibbs went 10-16 in 1985.
"I think teams have been watching my pitching in the past and
they see fastball, fastball, fastball, breaking ball," Parris
said. "I started throwing the curveball for strikes, and 'Benny'
(Benito Santiago) stayed with it, and I stayed with it."
Danny Graves, Cincinnati's third pitcher, got three outs for his
13th save in 14 chances.
"We can play with anybody in the league if we get the
pitching," manager Jack McKeon said.
Cincinnati had not won consecutive games since a three-game
sweep of Minnesota on June 2-4. The Reds are 9-1 at Arizona and
16-6 over the Diamondbacks overall.
Anderson (8-3) lost at home for the first time in 20 starts
since Sept. 18, 1998, stopping a 12-game winning streak. He gave up
three runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.
"We wanted to get out of here with a win however we could get
it, and we had some chances," Anderson said. "We had some chances
and didn't take advantage."
Bichette drove in Cincinnati's first run with a first-inning
sacrifice fly, and Santiago had an RBI single in the seventh,
stopping an 0-for-9 skid.
"I don't have too many RBI, so when I get one that always a
plus for me," said Santiago, who raised his season total to 17.
"It's not the way I used to be. But for us beating a first-place
team three out of four, it gives us a little bit of confidence."
Ochoa, who had three hits and three RBI Sunday in his first
start since May 26, hit a line drive into the left-field stands
with one out in the fifth, his fourth homer of the season.
Arizona got its runs on RBI singles by Tony Womack in the
seventh, which chased Parris, and Greg Colbrunn in the ninth off
Danny Graves.
"There wasn't much margin for error," Arizona manager Buck
Showalter said. "We've got to take a lot better advantage of that
type of pitching effort."
Game
notes
Showalter is budgeting extra time in the rotation ,
anticipating an All-star appearance for Randy Johnson, scheduled
for starts Tuesday and Sunday. ... The Reds haven't had a complete
game in 82 games this season. The previous team record for
consecutive games at the season's start without one was set in
1997, when Dave Burba got one in their 81st game.
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RECAPS
Toronto 6 Baltimore 4
Detroit 5 Tampa Bay 4
Chi. White Sox 14 Kansas City 10
Boston 11 Minnesota 8
Texas 8 Oakland 3
Seattle 8 Anaheim 6
Chicago Cubs 3 Pittsburgh 0
Cincinnati 3 Arizona 2
Florida 2 NY Mets 0
Montreal 17 Atlanta 1
Philadelphia 5 Milwaukee 3
Colorado 3 San Diego 1
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