Phillies Pack a Punch in Rout of Reds

When Mike Lieberthal was hit with a first-inning pitch he went to first base with a smile.

It was a much more placid scene than the one that played out a night earlier.

David Bell homered and had four runs batted in during Philadelphia’s 10-run eighth inning and Bobby Abreu homered and drove in three runs as the Philadelphia Phillies ended a three-game losing streak with a 12-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

It was the second offensive outburst this season for Philadelphia at Great American Ball Park. On April 13, the Phillies scored a club-record 13 runs in one inning to beat the Reds, 13-1.

On Friday night, a bench-clearing brawl led to five ejections. Lieberthal was directly involved in that one, tackling Adam Dunn from behind as he charged the mound. Earlier in the game, Dunn bowled Lieberthal over at the plate with the Reds ahead, 10-0.

In the first inning Saturday, Danny Graves hit the catcher with a curveball to load the bases with two outs. Lieberthal casually trotted to first.

“I throw inside,” Graves said. “Sometimes, they get away. I don’t think Lieberthal thought I throwing at him. He went right to the base.”

Three more batters were hit by pitchers, but calm prevailed throughout.

Randy Wolf (8-3), who has won his last three starts and five of six decisions, improved to 4-1 against Cincinnati -- 2-0 this season.

“Wolf was dealing,” Graves said. “I heard some of the batters talking, and they said it’s sneaky. He’s done great against us his whole career. He’s an awesome pitcher.”

One night after the Reds had 22 hits and 15 runs, Wolf limited the Reds to two hits and a run in seven innings. Dunn hit his NL-leading 22nd homer in the first and was the only batter Wolf allowed past second base. He struck out seven.

“For the first time in my last four starts, I felt consistent,” Wolf said. “To look at the score, you don’t realize that it was a tight game.”