Game: Florida Marlins @ Cincinnati Reds
Venue: Great American Ball park
Start Time: 7:10 P.M. Eastern TIme
Attendance: 14,015
Length of Game: 3:11
Starting Pitchers: Mark Hendrickson (Marlins) vs Edinson Volquez (Reds)
Jeff Keppinger's broken left kneecap took all the luster away from the Cincinnati Reds' second successive victory over a first-place team.
Edinson Volquez pitched six effective innings, Joey Votto hit a home run and Cincinnati earned a costly 5-3 victory against the Florida Marlins on Tuesday night.
Pinch-hitter Cody Ross hit a home run in the eighth to cut Cincinnati's lead to 5-3, and Jeremy Hermida milked a leadoff walk in the ninth against Francisco Cordero. Hermida advanced to second on a wild pitch but Cordero retired Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu on groundouts and struck out Dan Uggla for his seventh save.
Keppinger, the team's leading hitter, fouled a pitch off his leg in the second and X-Rays revealed the injury. The shortstop drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0 and played defense in the third and fourth innings before departing.
Keppinger entered with a .320 batting average and was tied for third in the National League with a .406 average with runners in scoring position. He took over as the starting shortstop when Alex Gonzalez opened the season on the disabled list with a broken left knee.
Reds slugger Ken Griffey Jr. got the day off and remained stuck on 597 career home runs. Griffey has not hit a home run in his past 63 at-bats since connecting against Houston's Chris Sampson on April 23.
Florida has lost two straight after winning seven in a row.
Volquez (6-1) allowed one earned run and a season-high seven hits with two walks. His National League-leading ERA rose from 1.06 to 1.12 and he struck out five to increase his league-best total to 57.
Hairston, Votto and Corey Patterson had two hits apiece. Patterson hit for Keppinger in the fourth inning and stayed in the game in center field with Ryan Freel moving from center to right to replace Hairston.
Votto's eighth home run of the season, an opposite-field solo shot to left in the seventh, gave the Reds a 5-2 lead.
Freel reached on an infield single with the bases loaded in the second, Adam Dunn had an RBI groundout in the third and catcher David Ross drove in Hairston with a bunt single in the fifth.
Mark Hendrickson, who hadn't walked more than three batters in any of his previous eight starts, walked three in the second inning to help the Reds score twice.
Hendrickson (5-2) allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings. He issued a season-high five walks and struck out one. Hendrickson, who had won his previoius five decisions, absorbed his first loss since opening day against the New York Mets.
Up Next: Game 2 of this series will feautre Ricky Nolasco, who has a 2-3 record with an ERA of 5.35. Nolasco earned his second win of the season in his last start on April 9th against the Washington Nationals.
Bronson Arroyo will take the hill for the Reds-- Arroyo currently holds a 2-4 record with an ERA of 7.14.
First pitch is set for 7:10 P.M. Eastern time-- Game will be televised locally on Sun Sports and can be heard on radio on 790 The Ticket AM Radio ( English) or 1140 WQBA AM Radio (Spanish).