PAOLO

Game: Florida Marlins @ Cincinnati Reds

Venue: Great American Ball Park

Start Time: 7:10 P.M. Eastern Time

Attendance: 12,756

Length of Game: 3:33

Starting Pitchers: Ricky Nolasco ( Marlins) vs Bronson Arroyo ( Reds)

Paul Janish's first day in the major leagues ended with a game-winning hit and a bloody nose.

He won't forget either one.

The Cincinnati Reds blew a six-run lead in the ninth Wednesday night, but Janish singled home the tiebreaking run in only his second big-league at-bat for a 7-6, 10-inning victory against the Florida Marlins.

His opposite-field hit to right on an 0-2 changeup from Renyel Pinto brought a wave of teammates onto the field for a joyous pummeling, one that left him with a bloody nose. He didn't mind.

The Reds matched their season high with their third consecutive victory, all against a Marlins team that came to town on its best run of the season.

The Marlins arrived with a seven-game winning streak and the best record in the major leagues. By dropping the first three games of the series, they equaled their longest losing streak of the season.

They almost pulled it out.

The Reds went into the ninth with a 6-0 lead and a distinction: The only team in the majors without a blown save. Seven batters later, the lead and the distinction were gone. Luis Gonzalez broke the shutout with an RBI double off Mike Lincoln, who left with the bases loaded and no outs. Closer Francisco Cordero, who had been a perfect 7-for-7 in save chances, came on and gave up a two-run single to Matt Treanor.

One out later, Cody Ross hit a three-run homer to left field, raising his fist as he rounded first base. It was the first home run allowed this season by Cordero, and the second in two games by Ross.

Pinto (1-2) walked two with two outs in the 10th to bring up Janish, who drove up from Triple-A Louisville earlier in the day. He got into the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth and made two slick plays, drawing cheers from the crowd of 12,756.

When he flied out to deep left field in his first at-bat in the eighth, the fans gave him a standing ovation. His second time up, he took two fastballs for strikes, then went the other way with a changeup.

And, he got another ovation.

Jared Burton (2-1) pitched a perfect 10th for the victory.

The bullpen's meltdown ruined another solid performance by Reds starter Bronson Arroyo, who threw seven shutout innings on short rest.

The Reds pulled ahead 6-0 behind Jerry Hairston Jr., who is Cincinnati's main shortstop with Jeff Keppinger sidelined by a broken kneecap. Hairston had a single, double and RBI triple.

Adam Dunn also homered, and Ken Griffey Jr. had a run-scoring double.

Center fielder Corey Patterson threw out runners at home and third base, helping Arroyo get in position for a win the old-fashioned way -- with only three days between starts. Arroyo gave up five hits in seven shutout innings, throwing 111 pitches. He left after striking out the side in the seventh.

Arroyo volunteered to work on short rest so the club could get its rotation back in order following a weekend doubleheader. In three previous starts on short rest, Arroyo was 1-0 with a 3.05 ERA, including a three-hit shutout against San Francisco in 2006. 

Up Next: The Marlins will attempt to salvage at least one game in this 4-game series against the Reds as they send Andrew Miller to the mound to face Matt Belisle.

Miller, who is riding a 2-game winning streak of his own currently has an overall record of 3-2 with an ERA of 6.52-- The young lefty went a season-high 7 innings in his last start in a win over the Nationals on May 10th.

Belisle has a record of 1-3 and an ERA of 7.45. He lost in his last start against the Mets.

First pitch is set for 7:10 P.M. Eastern Time and will be televised locally on Sun Sports. Tonight's game can also be hear on 790 The Ticket AM Radio (English) or 1140 WQBA AM Radio (Spanish).

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).

Game: Florida Marlins @ Cincinnati Reds

Venue: Great American Ballpark

Start Time: 7:10 P.M. Eastern Time

Attendance: 15,233

Length of Game: 2:37

Starting Pitchers: Burke Badenhop (Marlins) vs Aaron Harang (Reds)

Jeff Keppinger and Brandon Phillips hit two-run homers in the seventh inning Monday night, breaking open a tied game and sending right-hander Aaron Harang to a long-awaited victory, 8-7 over the surging Florida Marlins.

The Marlins arrived with a seven-game winning streak and the best record in the major leagues. Things looked good early, when they piled up three solo homers off Harang (2-5), including another one by Dan Uggla.

Finally, Cincinnati’s wildly inconsistent offense came through for its No. 1 starter.

Harang hadn’t won since April 10, going 0-4 despite one solid performance after another. The Reds scored two runs or less in half of his first eight starts, the main reason for that ugly record.

Keppinger, the Reds’ most consistent hitter, snapped a 4-all tie with his homer off Taylor Tankersley (0-1), who came in to start the seventh. Phillips later connected for his seventh homer.

The Reds hadn’t scored more than five runs in any game behind Harang, who gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings before turning his rare lead over to the bullpen. It almost slipped away.

After Luis Gonzalez singled home a run in the eighth, cutting it to 8-5, closer Francisco Cordero came on and hit Wes Helms to load the bases with two outs. Ken Griffey Jr. dropped Mike Rabelo’s fly ball to shallow right field for an error that let in two more runs, and a walk loaded the bases again.

Griffey bobbled Alfredo Amezaga’s fly to the warning track before holding on with his bare hand for the last out of the inning. Cordero pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save in as many chances.

Cincinnati is the only team in the majors without a blown save.

The home run has figured prominently in the best start in Marlins history. Harang already knew what the Marlins could do—he gave up five homers in his last two starts against them.

Make it eight homers in his last three.

Jeremy Hermida and Hanley Ramirez hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, and Uggla connected in the fourth for a 3-0 lead. It was Uggla’s fourth homer in his last three games—one was a grand slam—and his eighth in 10 games.

Uggla has 12 homers overall after hitting a career-high 31 last season.

Right-hander Burke Badenhop gave up four runs in six innings, leaving with the score tied at 4. A throwing error by third baseman Jorge Cantu let in one of the runs.

Up Next: Game 2 of the series between the Marlins and the Reds will feature a pair of 5-1 starters. For the Marlins