Reds Rally to a 7-6 Win, Lead Division by 1 1/2 Games

Brandon Phillips in the leadoff slot was as it was brief.

Phillips tied the contest with a two-run triple, his fourth hit of the game and scored on Joey Votto's single up the middle in the eighth inning.

Aging Orlando Cabrera was to get the day off so Paul Janish played shortstop and Phillips was moved up a spot from what has become his normal two spot in the batting order.

"At first I was just trying to move them over, get one in and get (Chris) Heisey (who doubled ahead of him) to third.  When I got two strikes, I was trying to drive them in and it worked out,"  Phillips said.

Phillips spent most of last season in the cleanup spot to split lefthanded batters, Votto and Jay Bruce.  With the addition of Scott Rolen it frees him to bat in other spots.

"I just tried to have good at bats and take some pitches.  I can hit anywhere in the lineup and try to be a team player," Phillips said.

"It's great when you have guys like Cabrera and Brandon that can hit all over the lineup.  I mean Brandon's hit cleanup, fifth, third and first," Dusty Baker said.

Mike Leake failed to last into the fifth inning for the first time in his brief career.  He allowed four runs on 11 hits but didn't pitch as badly as the numbers indicated.

"It's not that Leake was throwing poorly, they were finding holes and flairing balls," Baker said.  "He fought and fought."

The Reds were behind 4-0 in the middle of the third but rallied against emergency reliever, Denny Bautista.

San Francisco starter, Todd Wellemeyer, strained his right quad muscle hitting into a double play with the bases loaded.  It was the first of three straight innings in which the Giants hit into double plays with the bases jammed.

Juan Uribe hit into one of them in the fourth, started by a diving stop by Janish.  Phillips started a nifty one in the fifth by backhanding a hard hit ball by Freddy Sanchez.

"Those were big by Janish and Brandon," Baker said.  "That saved a lot of runs.  You know how I feel about defense especially up-the-middle defense."

The defensive plays kept Leake and the Reds in striking distance until they started the offense against Bautista.

Leake, who was hitting .417, walked to open the inning.  Phillips extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single to right.  Janish bunted to advance them and popped it up but Bautista couldn't make a diving catch and the bases were loaded.  Votto walked to start the scoring.  Scott Rolen hit a sacrifice fly to right.  Jonny Gomes and Bruce singled to tie the score.

San Francisco tied it when Rolen failed to come up with what would have been a double play ground ball.  Buster Posey would have scored from third anyway but Leake would have had the bases empty and two outs.  Instead the his relief Enerio Del Rosario had to coax another double play to escape.

The Giants added another marker in the seventh when Sanchez singled home Aaron Rowand.

Both bullpens held until Guillermo Mota entered the eighth for San Francisco.

Ramon Hernandez singled and Heisey, who was a double switch replacement doubled to set up Phillips heroic triple.

The 13th win in its last at bat was the result for Cincinnati that added a half game to the lead over St. Louis which has the day off.   It is the latest the Reds have led its division since 2002.

"The comeback wins show that we believe in ourselves," Phillips said.