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Bruce's slam highlights Reds rout of Cubbies

Fri 5th, September 2008

Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Jay Bruce hit a grand slam and Joey Votto added a two-run homer, as the Cincinnati Reds pounded the Chicago Cubs, 10-2, in the opener of a three-game set at Great American Ball Park.

Votto finished 2-for-3 with two walks, three RBI and two runs scored in the victory, the Reds' fifth in seven games. Jeff Keppinger and Ryan Hanigan each had two hits and drove in a run.

Bronson Arroyo (14-10) gave up one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings to get the win.

Koyie Hill doubled and knocked in a run for the Cubs, who began a nine-game road trip by extending their losing streak to a season-high six games.

Ted Lilly (13-9) was saddled with the loss, tagged for five runs on four hits with three walks and one strikeout in a season-low two innings of work. The southpaw had tossed six or more frames in each of his previous nine trips to the bump, posting a 4-2 mark over that stretch. Jon Lieber pitched two innings of relief and surrendered the home run to Bruce.

The Cubs lead the NL Central by four games over the Brewers.

Following a strong opening frame in which Arroyo struck out the side, the Reds grabbed a 2-0 lead in the home half on Votto's 18th home run of the season. Chris Dickerson got things started with a leadoff single, but was later forced out on a grounder by Brandon Phillips. Votto then hammered the first pitch he saw from Lilly over the wall in right.

Cincinnati tacked on three more runs in the second. Hanigan reached on an infield single to start the inning and Arroyo sacrificed the runner to second. After Lilly plunked Dickerson in the back, Keppinger doubled off the top of the left field wall to chase home Hanigan. Phillips was then intentionally walked to load the bases for Votto, who walked on four pitches to force in a run. An Edwin Encarnacion sac fly gave the Reds a 5-0 edge.

In the fourth, the Reds loaded the bases with one away on a single by Keppinger, a two-base hit from Phillips and an intentional walk to Votto. After Encarnacion flied out to right fielder Kosuke Fukudome in foul territory, Bruce delivered with an opposite-field smash to the seats in left for his first career grand slam and a 9-0 Reds advantage.

Jim Edmonds, who walked to begin the seventh, scored on Hill's RBI double to put the Cubs on the board. Cincinnati, though, responded in the bottom half on a run-scoring single by Hanigan.

A fielding miscue by Bruce on a base hit by Hill with two gone in the eighth allowed Mike Fontenot, who had reached on an infield single earlier in the frame, to score the Cubs' second run of the game.

Game Notes

Arroyo has won each of his last four starts...Votto has homered in three straight games. Eight of his 18 homers have come against the Cubs...The setback snapped Lilly's five-game road-winning streak...Bruce's homer was his 16th of the year...The Cubs have totaled just 14 runs during the skid...The start of the game was delayed 17 minutes because of rain.