Nobody told Lance Davis to shape up or we're going to ship you out. But Davis knew it. One more bad outing and he might have been returning to the minors. After Monday night's performance, Davis' spot in the Reds' rotation is safe for the time being — very safe.

Rookie Lance Davis pitched the Reds' first complete game of the year. (Craig Ruttle photos) | ZOOM |

        Davis, the 24-year-old rookie left-hander, threw the first complete game of the year for the Reds, beating Detroit 9-1 before a crowd of 19,757 at Cinergy Field. Davis allowed five hits and one run. He struck out seven and walked two.

        “It was a great relief,” he said. “I was worried with my last two starts that I might get sent back to Louisville.”

        The Reds gave Davis more offense than he needed. Aaron Boone had a career-high four hits, including a home run. Dmitri Young had a pair of hits, including a homer. And Ken Griffey Jr. hit a solo homer in the sixth and a three-run homer in the seventh.

        “It was a fun night,” Boone said. “We haven't had too many of these.”

        Griffey left the clubhouse before reporters could talk to him.

Ken Griffey Jr. watches his sixth-inning HR. | ZOOM |

        It was only the third victory for the Reds in the last 13 games. By winning, they avoided falling to 24 games below .500 for the first time since Sept. 28, 1984. The victory was a huge pick-up after the Reds blew a 5-0 lead Sunday and lost 8-5.

        If Davis and the other two rookies in the rotation — Jose Acevedo and Chris Reitsma — continue to improve, it bodes well for the future.

        “If we can go out and develop a few guys and play well down the stretch,” Boone said, “it gives us something to build on.”

        Monday was Davis' sixth start. He has shown he can be effective, and he has shown he can be knocked around.

        Davis earned his first major league victory June 27 against St. Louis, going eight innings and allowing one run on four hits.

        In the two starts between the win and Monday, Davis allowed 13 runs and 17 hits in 4 2/3 innings for a 25.07 ERA.

        “In those games, I was getting the ball up in the zone,” he said. “Tonight, I kept the ball down and changed speeds.”

Aaron Boone smiles at coach Ron Oester after getting thrown out at third. He was trying to stretch a double into a triple for the cycle. | ZOOM |

        Davis was facing another 24-year-old, Detroit rookie left-hander Adam Pettyjohn, who was making his major league debut. He was 5-8 with a 3.44 ERA at Triple-A Toledo.

        Davis got into the kind of trouble in the first inning that did him in during his last two starts. The Tigers had runners at first and second with two outs, but Davis struck out Robert Fick.

        “That's exactly the hump he hasn't gotten over,” Reds manager Bob Boone said.

        Davis retired 17 of 19 in one stretch.

        Aaron Boone got the Reds on the board in the second when he took Pettyjohn the opposite way to right on a 3-1 pitch. The home run was Boone's 10th, tying Sean Casey for the team lead.

        The Reds tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Boone singled and Kelly Stinnett walked. Juan Castro doubled to score Boone. Davis helped himself with a groundout to short that allowed Stinnett to score and made it 3-0. It was Davis' first career RBI.

        Then came the home runs. Griffey Jr. and Young made it 5-0 with back-to-back shots in the sixth.

        Griffey's was a blast, reaching the yellow seats above right field.

        Griffey's next homer broke the game wide open. It was the 46th multi-homer game of his career. He has seven home runs on the year and three in two days.

        Young followed with an infield hit. Up next was Boone. He already had a single, a double and a homer. So when he hit the ball into the right-center gap, he was running for a triple and the cycle.

        He was out by 10 feet at third. Young scored before Boone was tagged out.

        “The infield is soft,” he said. “I ran out of gas around second. I did slow up to let Dmitri score and get the RBI.”

        The last Red to hit for the cycle was Eric Davis on June 2, 1989.

        Davis lost the shutout in the eighth on a Roger Cedeno homer.

        “Almost,” Davis said of the shutout. “A change-up up in the zone. I think he was sitting on it.”

        But the complete game was rare enough. The Reds had gone 91 games without one, breaking the club record of 89, which was set last year.

        The last Reds' complete game was by Ron Villone Sept. 29 of last year. The last rookie left-hander to throw a complete game was Tom Browning in 1985.

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