CINCINNATI – One impressive inning wasn't enough.
The San Diego Padres scored six runs in the fourth inning for one of their best comebacks of the season, only to have the Cincinnati Reds trump it with one swing. A hobbled Brandon Phillips hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the seventh inning for a 7-6 victory on Tuesday night.
Phillips homered on the 110th and final pitch by Jason Marquis (4-6), who had won his last three starts. The second baseman made a slow trot — he had aggravated a sore left calf — and left the game.
Reds manager Dusty Baker expects Phillips to miss a couple of days.
"I tried to make my pitch down and away," Marquis said. "It was a hitter's count at 2-0, but I've got to execute. I just left the ball up on the plate a little bit. It's tough to do that in that situation."
Sean Marshall (4-3) got the win with two perfect innings. Left-hander Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect ninth — only one strikeout this time — for his 14th straight save and his 22nd in 26 chances overall.
Chapman finished it off by fanning Chase Headley in a 10-pitch at-bat. Headley was well ahead on a 100 mph fastball, pulling it foul down the third base line. Chapman finally got him with an 86 mph slider. Headley thought he had held back, but the umpires ruled he went around.
"That was a great at-bat," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Chase battled on every pitch. Chapman was doing everything he could. Chapman thought, 'I can't get him out with the fastball here, let's throw the slider.'"
Before the game, the Reds bolstered their bullpen by acquiring reliever Jonathan Broxton from Kansas City for two minor leaguers. Broxton is expected to arrive on Wednesday and move into a setup role for the third game of the series against San Diego.
The Reds appeared to have this one in hand early. Ryan Ludwick singled home a run in the first inning and hit a three-run shot in the third off Marquis. Scott Rolen then singled, extending his hitting streak to a season-high nine games, and Todd Frazier's homer made it 6-0.
The Reds are 12-3 while top hitter Joey Votto recovers from knee surgery. Ludwick has played a major role in pulling them through, batting .356 with five homers during those 15 games.
Homer Bailey let it get away with a shocking meltdown.
The right-hander has been one of the Reds' best pitchers during their surge to first place, allowing a total of six earned runs in his last five games. He gave up that many in only one inning.
For the second time in two games, the Padres batted around during an inning.
"It's more how we're swinging the bats," Black said. "It was a great boost for our guys, the way they've been swinging. I think we've been swinging better over the last month, and we've got to sustain it."
The Padres sent 11 batters to the plate for six runs in the fourth, tying it 6-all. It equaled the most runs they had scored in an inning all season and was by far the worst inning by the Reds' pitching staff. San Diego piled up four singles, back-to-back RBI triples by Alexi Amarista and Will Venable, and a three-run homer by Cameron Maybin.
"That hanging pitch to Maybin was the only pitch I made a mistake on," Bailey said. "Things just kept piling up, one after another. You're going to have those innings. You're going to have those games."
The Reds' bullpen and homer-reliant offense pulled it out.
Reds general manager Walt Jocketty looked into acquiring a leadoff hitter or cleanup hitter before Tuesday's trade deadline, but decided the price was too high, and the players already on the roster were doing just fine in Votto's absence.
NOTES: The Padres put C Yasmani Grandal on the 15-day DL with strained muscles in his right side, hurt on a swing Monday night. They called up C Eddy Rodriguez from Class A. ... Reds LH reliever Bill Bray went on the DL with a sore back. The Reds called up RH reliever Todd Redmond from Triple-A. ... Reds C Devin Mesoraco left the game with dizziness caused by the heat. ... Reds radio broadcaster Marty Brennaman will have his head shaved on the field after a game against Pittsburgh on Friday night if fans pledge $20,000 to the team's community fund. Brennaman had promised to get his head shaved if the Reds won 10 in a row.
___
Follow Joe Kay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apjoekay
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.