San Francisco, CA – Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips both went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
Devin Mesoraco added two hits and a pair of RBI and Jay Bruce had a pair of hits and an RBI for the Reds, who have gone 5-2 since the All-Star break.
Mike Leake (10-4) gave up one run on 12 hits over six-plus innings to pick up the win.
"It wasn't a real pretty game, but we won. It was nice to come out here and win three out of four going into LA," said Reds manager Dusty Baker.
Hunter Pence went 5-for-5 with an RBI and Pablo Sandoval had two hits and drove in a pair of runs for the Giants, who have dropped four of their last five games.
"Disappointing tonight. We squandered too many chances tonight. It doesn't matter how many hits you get, it is when you get them," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy.
San Francisco out-hit the Reds 15-13, but left 15 runners on base.
Chad Gaudin (4-2) was tagged for six runs on seven hits and five walks over 3 2/3 innings to absorb the loss.
The Reds scored a run in the first inning. Shin-Soo Choo doubled, moved to third on Xavier Paul's groundout then scored on Votto's sacrifice fly to center field.
Cincinnati tacked on three more in the third. With Votto on first and two outs, Phillips lifted a line drive to right-center field. The ball got past both outfielders and Votto came all the way around to score. Bruce followed with an RBI double, and after Todd Frazier walked, Mesoraco singled to center to score Bruce.
Pence's RBI single in the home half made it 4-1.
The Reds added two runs in both the fourth and sixth innings. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Votto ripped a grounder to third, but it was enough to score Leake. Phillips followed with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Choo.
Votto opened the sixth with a triple to right then scored on Phillips' base hit. Mesoraco scored Phillips three batters to make it 8-1.
With two on and one out in the eighth, Sandoval laced a double to left field to score Tony Abreu and Marco Scutaro to pull the Giants within 8-3.
Game Notes
Leake has won three straight starts and eight of his last 10 decisions ... The Reds have won eight of their last 10 games versus the Giants ... Frazier has a seven-game hitting streak ... The Reds were 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position ... 14 of the Giants' 15 hits were singles ... The Giants went 4-for-16 with RISP.
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