Votto's 4 RBIs, Arroyo's pitching power Reds over Pads

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Rookie Joey Votto and Bronson Arroyo helped Chris Speier go undefeated through his two-game run as acting manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

Votto hit his 10th homer, a three-run shot, and finished with four RBIs to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night.

Other than allowing Paul McAnulty's two-run triple in the fourth, Arroyo (3-4) held the last-place Padres in check as they tumbled to their 14th loss in 20 games. He struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and seven hits, with just one walk.

It was the second straight win for the Reds and Speier, who was filling in for manager Dusty Baker. Baker finished serving his two-game suspension for bumping umpire Eric Cooper after he was ejected in the series opener on Thursday night.

"It's been fun. The guys played hard," Speier said. "Two W's is two W's."

Brandon Phillips had a single, double, and triple. The Reds stranded 14 runners, including leaving the bases loaded twice.

The Padres struck out 13 times, giving them 39 in three games, pushing their big-league lead to 402. They struck out 17 times Friday night. Five Padres pitchers issued 11 walks and hit one batter.

The Reds worked over Padres starter Wilfredo Ledezma (0-2), who lasted only three innings and allowed five runs on five hits. Ledezma was making his second straight start in place of ace Jake Peavy, who went on the disabled list on Tuesday with a swollen right elbow.

Votto homered to straightaway center with one out in the second for a 3-0 lead. Phillips was aboard on a leadoff triple and Adam Dunn -- whose homer off Trevor Hoffman gave the Reds a 3-2 win Friday night -- reached after getting hit by a pitch from Ledezma.

"That was huge," Speier said. "We've been scuffling to score runs, so to get that kind cushion going right out of the chute, then to add two more, was good."

Said Votto: "I'm just going to go with it and hopefully come through in clutch situations and help us win."

Ledezma said he tried to throw a fastball away, "but I couldn't control my fastball there."

The Reds added on in the third when they loaded the bases with no outs ahead of Jerry Hairston Jr., who hit a sacrifice fly. Cincinnati pushed across another run when the Padres couldn't turn a double play on Votto's grounder to shortstop.

Paul Janish hit a bases-loaded, two-run single in the ninth.

The Padres broke through against Arroyo in the fourth when Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff singled with one out, and scored on McAnulty's first career triple, into the gap in right-center.

"His command was excellent," Speier said of Arroyo. "He had them all off balance."

"The guy has had some effectiveness in his career," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He threw a lot of off-speed pitches, changed speeds, kept us off balance."

Black said the Padres' strikeout rate "is a little high. We have to make better contact. We obviously have to put the bat on the ball in situations where it is warranted. We have to do a better job of that."

Arroyo is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA in his last four starts after going 1-4 with an 8.63 ERA in his first seven starts.

Game notes
Peavy was supposed to have played catch before the game but the session was called off because he had discomfort when the medical staff did stress tests. Peavy is scheduled to have an MRI on Tuesday. ... The Reds sold the contract of RHP Justin Lehr to Doosan of the Korean Professional League. ... Padres C Michael Barrett was activated from the 15-day DL after missing 1 1/2 months with a sprained right elbow. To make room on the roster, Colt Morton was optioned to Double-A San Antonio. ... Padres RHP Jared Wells made his big-league debut when he opened the seventh. ... The Reds' 11 walks were their most since they had 13 on April 23, 2006, at Milwaukee, and the most issued by the Padres since they issued 13 in 10 innings at Cincinnati on April 26, 2003.