Reds Run Over Lowe

It doesn’t take a 10-run inning to put a game away. Six will do.

The Dodgers learned the hard way Saturday, one day after they had posted double figures in the first inning. The Cincinnati Reds swallowed up a three-run deficit and spit it back at the Dodgers, who trailed by three after the six-run, sixth-inning barrage and went on to lose, 11-3, at the Great American Ball Park.

The turnaround was jarringly sudden, like a flash flood on an otherwise dry desert day. Derek Lowe (2-3), who did not give up a hit until the fifth, was swept away by a torrent of blistered balls in the sixth.

“I have no idea what happened, to sum it up,” Lowe said. “I continued doing what I was doing and the next thing I knew it was 4-3, then 6-3.”

With one out and one on, Felipe Lopez and Sean Casey delivered run-scoring hits. Ken Griffey Jr. made the second out on a rocket that left fielder Ricky Ledee speared by reaching over his head.

Adam Dunn singled through first baseman Hee-Seop Choi, and Lowe kicked the mound, saying afterward that he was frustrated that Dunn had hit his changeup. But Lowe compounded the problem by throwing a wild pitch that enabled Casey to score, and Dunn advanced to third while Lowe argued with plate umpire Rick Reed.

Joe Randa singled to score Dunn and Austin Kearns hit a two-run home run, finally prompting Manager Jim Tracy to remove Lowe. Tracy said he contemplated the move before Kearns’ at-bat, but he has been slow to remove starting pitchers recently, in part because of the continued absence of closer Eric Gagne.

“Derek’s pitch count was very much in order, and balls weren’t being crushed,” Tracy said.

Tracy refuses to be drawn into a discussion involving what he terms “hypotheticals,” but the need to use Yhency Brazoban as the closer rather than eighth-inning setup reliever has triggered a domino effect that makes it difficult to get through the sixth and seventh innings unscathed.

Duaner Sanchez surrendered two runs in two-thirds of an inning in relief of Lowe, and left-hander Kelly Wunsch -- who has pitched well recently -- gave up an RBI double to Griffey in the seventh.

Rookie Steve Schmoll has been less effective than he was the first few weeks of the season, and he gave up three runs in the eighth.

“They got to our bullpen somewhat,” Tracy said. “But as the game unfolded, we had chances early that got away from us.”

The Dodgers had a chance to seize control in the first inning again, but after loading the bases with one out against former Angel pitcher Ramon Ortiz, Milton Bradley popped up and Ledee flied out.

J.D. Drew hit a two-run home run in the third and the Dodgers extended the lead in the fourth when a triple by rookie Mike Edwards was followed by Paul Bako’s squeeze-bunt single.

“It all looked good for a while,” Edwards said.

Lowe induced 10 ground-ball outs in the first five innings while throwing only 63 pitches. There were no storm clouds on the horizon, then within minutes the Dodgers (18-11) were running for cover and the Reds (11-18) had ended an eight-game losing streak.

The first seven Red batters had hits, and D’Angelo Jimenez came off the bench to get three hits, score three runs and drive in two.

“They are a good offensive team,” Tracy said. “They have firepower and can do damage.”