By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Tuesday's game

PHOENIX - The Reds' drought in the desert continued Tuesday night, and it ended John Bale's magic spell.

Bale, who had pitched 10 2/3 shutout innings in his first two starts as a Red, took the loss as Cincinnati fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 before a crowd of 34,869 at Bank One Ballpark.

It was the Reds' ninth straight loss at the BOB.

The Diamondbacks opened the roof of the stadium for the first time since June 16 here because of the relatively cool weather - 80 degrees. But that was a bad omen for the Reds. They are now 1-5 at the facility with the roof open.

But pitching - not the aerodynamics of the stadium - decided this one.

Arizona's Brandon Webb, a rookie from Ashland, Ky., limited Cincinnati to one run and four hits over seven innings. He struck out a career-high 11.

Bale, a 28-year-old left-hander, went six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. That's by no means an awful night, but Bale could sue the Reds for lack of support. They've scored one run in his 16 2/3 innings of work as a starter.

"We knew it was going to be a good test for him," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "He threw six shutout innings against them the last time out. He didn't pitch bad. If we had been able to come up with a couple of runs, it might have been different."

Bale retired the first six batters he faced to run his streak of scoreless inning to 12 2/3.

"I felt good," he said. "I was sharp, making some great pitches."

But Junior Spivey led off the third with a high drive to left-center for his 12th home run of the year.

The fourth inning started nearly as badly for Bale. Alex Cintron led off with a drive toward the 413-foot mark in center. He motored around the bases for a triple, and Raul Mondesi got him home with a flyout to deep center.

"Those weren't bad pitches," Bale said. "Spivey kind of one-handed that out."

The Diamondbacks increased their lead to three runs in the fifth. Spivey and Robby Hammock singled with one out, and Webb struck out, attempting to bunt them over. But Matt Kata singled to score Spivey and make it 3-0.

The Reds had advanced only one runner to second base to that point. But they put together a two-out threat in the sixth.

D'Angelo Jimenez walked, and Sean Casey, who broke an 0-for-14 skid with a single in the second, singled to center. The runners moved to second and third on a passed ball.

But Webb struck out Ruben Mateo to end the inning. It was his 10th strikeout of the night. He finished with 11.

"We needed the big hit," Miley said. "Tonight, it just didn't happen."

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Olmedo ss	5	0	0	0	0	1	.278
LaRue c	5	0	0	0	0	3	.235
DJimenez 2b	2	0	0	0	2	1	.311
Casey 1b	3	0	2	0	1	1	.292
RMateo rf	4	0	1	0	0	3	.239
Stenson lf	3	0	1	0	1	0	.500
JCastro 3b	3	1	0	0	1	2	.248
Taylor cf	3	0	2	1	1	0	.217
Bale p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.000
WPena ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.172
Reith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Watson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Stinnett ph	0	0	0	0	0	0	.245
Totals	31	1	6	1	6	14

Arizona	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Kata 3b	4	0	1	1	0	1	.284
Cintron ss	4	2	2	0	0	0	.306
Mondesi rf	3	0	0	1	0	1	.258
LGonzalez lf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.307
Hillenbrand 1b	4	1	2	2	0	0	.287
SFinley cf	3	0	0	0	1	1	.295
Spivey 2b	4	2	3	1	0	1	.261
Hammock c	3	1	3	1	0	0	.308
Webb p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.081
McCracken ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.222
Valverde p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
MMyers p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Mantei p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	32	6	11	6	1	7

Cincinnati	000	000	100	-1	6	0
Arizona	001	111	11x	-6	11	0

LOB-Cincinnati 10, Arizona 4. 2B-Taylor (4), Cintron (16), Spivey (16). 3B-Cintron (4). HR-Hammock (6), off Reith; Hillenbrand (10), off Bale; Spivey (12), off Bale. RBIs-Taylor (18), Kata (17), Mondesi (3), Hillenbrand 2 (36), Spivey (36), Hammock (19). SF-Mondesi. GIDP-LaRue. DP-Arizona 1.

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Bale L, 0-1	6	7	4	4	0	6	87	2.41
Reith	1	2	1	1	0	0	11	3.92
Watson	1	2	1	1	1	1	24	9.00

Arizona	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Webb W, 8-6	7	4	1	1	4	11	113	2.50
Valverde	2/3	1	0	0	1	1	13	2.18
MMyers	0	0	0	0	1	0	6	5.40
Mantei S, 19	1 1/3	1	0	0	0	2	18	2.43

HBP-by Mantei (Stinnett). PB-Hammock.

Umpires-Home, Joe Brinkman; First, Mike DiMuro; Second, Derryl Cousins; Third, Andy Fletcher.

T-2:35. A-34,869 (49,033).

How the runs scored in Tuesday's game between the Reds and the Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks third. Spivey homered to center on a 2-1 count. Hammock singled to center. Hammock was out advancing, left fielder Stenson to second baseman Jimenez, Hammock out. Webb struck out. Kata flied out to right fielder Mateo. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Diamondbacks 1, Reds 0.

Diamondbacks fourth. Cintron tripled to center. Mondesi hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Taylor, Cintron scored. L.Gonzalez struck out. Hillenbrand flied out to right fielder Mateo. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Diamondbacks 2, Reds 0.

Diamondbacks fifth. Finley flied out to center fielder Taylor. Spivey infield single to third. Hammock singled to right, Spivey to third. Webb struck out. Kata singled to right, Spivey scored, Hammock to third. Cintron grounded into fielder's choice, second baseman Jimenez to shortstop Olmedo, Kata out. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Diamondbacks 3, Reds 0.

Diamondbacks sixth. Mondesi struck out. L.Gonzalez flied out to center fielder Taylor. Hillenbrand homered to left on a 1-0 count. Finley struck out. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Diamondbacks 4, Reds 0.

Reds seventh. Stenson grounded out, first baseman Hillenbrand unassisted. Castro walked. Taylor doubled to center, Castro scored. Pena pinch-hitting for Bale. Pena struck out. Olmedo grounded out, second baseman Spivey to first baseman Hillenbrand. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Diamondbacks 4, Reds 1.

Diamondbacks seventh. Reith pitching. Spivey doubled to right. Spivey was out advancing, right fielder Mateo to third baseman Castro, Spivey out. Hammock homered to center on the first pitch. McCracken pinch-hitting for Webb. McCracken flied out to left fielder Stenson. Kata flied out to left fielder Stenson. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Diamondbacks 5, Reds 1.

Diamondbacks eighth. Watson pitching. Cintron doubled to center. Mondesi flied out to center fielder Taylor. L.Gonzalez grounded out, second baseman Jimenez to first baseman Casey, Cintron to third. Hillenbrand infield single to short, Cintron scored. Finley walked on four pitches, Hillenbrand to second. Spivey struck out. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Diamondbacks 6, Reds 1.