CINCINNATI (AP) -- Adam Dunn wanted to see a few pitches from
Jimmy Gobble. He jumped all over the fourth one.
Dunn took the first two pitches from the reliever for strikes
and fouled off the third before lacing a line drive RBI double in
the eighth inning that gave the Cincinnati Reds a 6-5 victory over
the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.
Ken Griffey Jr. homered for the fourth straight game and Felipe Lopez also hit a home run as the Reds weathered Kansas City's
eighth-inning comeback from a three-run deficit to win consecutive
games for the first time since June 8.
Pinch-hitter Javier Valentin singled off Elmer Dessens (4-7)
with two outs in the eighth for the Reds. Ryan Freel ran for
Valentin and stole second. Dessens walked Felipe Lopez and was
replaced by the left-handed Gobble, who gave up the hit that went
over the head of right fielder Reggie Sanders.
"I probably shouldn't say this, and I'll probably get yelled
at, but I've never faced that guy before and I wanted to see a
pitch from him," said Dunn, who also hit his team-leading 25th
homer. "It was a slider, right there. When I hit it, I thought it
was right at him, but it must have had backspin or knuckled or
something, and luckily, it went right over him. When they're close,
Reggie usually gets those."
Sanders said the ball tailed on him.
"By the time I got into position, it was past me," he said.
David Weathers (3-2), who got two outs in the eighth, was the
winner and Todd Coffey pitched the ninth for his seventh save in
eight tries.
Cincinnati's last consecutive wins were at St. Louis on June 7,
and at home over the Chicago Cubs on June 8. The Reds hadn't won
back-to-back games on the same homestand since beating Milwaukee on
May 22-23.
Kansas City's comeback cost Bronson Arroyo his 10th win of the
season. Arroyo allowed two runs and five hits with five strikeouts.
He matched his season high by giving up three walks.
"Sure, it irritates you, but that's not saying the guys in the
bullpen aren't doing the best they can," Arroyo said of the blown
save, adding he would have tried to pitch the eighth if the lead
had been fewer than three runs. "If it was a one-run lead, I
would've gone back out there, but the bullpen has been throwing
better of late, and I thought three runs was a big enough lead."
"I think we all feel sick about Bronson not getting the win
there," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "I would love to have
kept him in nine innings and started him again (Friday) night."
Royals starter Bobby Keppel is still looking for his first major
league win after allowing five hits, including the three homers,
and four runs with one walk and two strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.
Doug Mientkiewicz gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead in the first
inning with his third homer. Griffey responded in the bottom of the
inning with a two-run shot, his 16th of the season and 552nd of his
career. Griffey is one game short of tying the club record for
consecutive games with a home run, which was set by Ted Kluszewski
in 1954 and tied by Johnny Bench in 1972 and Griffey in 2003.
Griffey shares the major league record for consecutive games
with at least one home run with eight, in 1993.
The Reds took a 4-1 lead on back-to-back homers by Lopez and
Dunn to lead off the third. Lopez's homer was his ninth of the
season and second in two nights. Dunn leads the Reds and is tied
with Milwaukee's Carlos Lee for third in the major leagues with 25
home runs.
The Royals batted around in the eighth while scoring three runs
against Reds relievers Chris Hammond and Weathers to tie the score.
Mark Grudzielanek and Tony Graffanino each had a run-scoring single
and Paul Bako tied the score with a sacrifice fly.
Game notes
2B Brandon Phillips became the first Reds player since Gary
Redus in 1984 to be successful on his first 15 stolen base attempts
of a season. The last Red with more was Ken Griffey, who opened the
1980 season 19-for-19. ... Keppel is the 353rd pitcher to give up a
home run to Griffey Jr. ... With one day left in the month, the
Reds have set a club record for home runs in June with 44. The
previous record was 43, set in 1957 and tied last season.