Griffey hits 593rd homer as Reds trounce Brewers

Reds 11, Brewers 4

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A pesky mosquito quickly made it a miserable night for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cincinnati scored six runs in the first inning, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 593rd homer in the second and the Cincinnati Reds breezed to an 11-4 victory Friday night.

All that happened after a 1-2-3 Milwaukee first inning in which Gabe Gross doubled and was thrown out trying to steal third as Ryan Braun struck out.

"It all started with a mosquito bite," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said.

A mosquito bite?

"I was just itching a spot and Nick [third-base coach Nick Leyva] thought I was putting the steal on. I'm not going to steal with Prince [Fielder] coming up. I should have seen it was a preview of what was going to come. It set the tone for the night. I looked up and saw Gabe coming and thought, 'What the heck is going on?"

Dave Bush (11-10) then got just three outs in the shortest of his 99 career starts, allowing eight runs and nine hits. Not exactly what was needed by Milwaukee, which remained tied with the Chicago Cubs for the NL Central lead. It was just the third loss in nine games for the Brewers.

"It was not a good time for a bad start," Bush said. "We got in a pretty big hole early on. There were a couple of mistakes in there, but not eight runs worth."

Josh Hamilton had four hits, including a home run, for the Reds.

Fielder had one of Milwaukee's few highlights, hitting his NL-leading 42nd homer.

Yost didn't stick around until the end -- he was ejected in the third inning after a walk to Joey Votto.

"I was upset way before the walk," said Yost, who thought several calls went against Bush.

"He didn't pitch great by any stretch of the imagination, but not as bad as the linescore shows," Yost said. "But if you argue balls and strikes, you get thrown out."

Bronson Arroyo (8-14) gave up three runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings, striking out eight.

"Bronson was very good, changed speeds really well, kept them off guard -- just the same old cliches with him," Reds manager Pete Mackanin said. "He pitched very well against a first-place team."

Hamilton doubled off the center-field wall on Bush's first pitch, Alex Gonzalez worked the count to 3-1 before reaching on a single to shortstop and Griffey singled for a 1-0 lead. Adam Dunn hit an RBI single, Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run single and Votto hit a two-run double. Hamilton followed with a single, but Votto was thrown out at the plate on Fielder's relay throw.

"Six in the first was beautiful," Arroyo said. "It allows you to go out and pitch to a little fatter part of the plate and to pitch to guys in a way you wouldn't normally just to keep them in the ballpark."

Griffey's two-run homer gave him 30 in a season for the first time since 2005 and the ninth time in his career.

Game notes
Bush's previous shortest start was when he lasted two innings on April 18, 2005, for Toronto against Boston. ... Reds reliever Victor Santos was traded to the Orioles for cash. He appeared in 32 games, was 1-4 with a 5.14 ERA. ... Hamilton started in center despite a sore hamstring. "He's had a nagging issue with it," Mackanin said. "I talked with him today and he said it was fine." ... Reds bench coach Pat Kelly was in the third-base coaching box because Mark Berry had left the team to be with his father, who had a heart attack.