CINCINNATI — Reds right-hander Bronson Arroyo was feeling refreshed following his 86-pitch, rain-shortened complete game Monday night.
“Might be the only (complete game) I get all year,” Arroyo said. “On the back of my baseball card in 20 years, people will have no idea.”
Todd Frazier hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs, and Arroyo allowed just two hits, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-1, six-inning victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night at Great American Ball Park.
“(Five) games back (in the National League Central Division) isn’t where we should be,” Frazier said. “We know we’re a good team. We just have to keep it going.”
The rain began to fall steadily in the fifth inning. By the sixth, heavier downpours rolled in, and the game was delayed prior to the start of the seventh. The game was called after a 1-hour, 28-minute delay when the umpires’ dressing room became partially flooded, as did a large portion of the outfield.
“The umpires did the right thing,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “We’ll take it. Gave our bullpen a rest.”
Frazier, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce each went 2-for-3 with two runs, pacing an 11-hit revival for the Reds’ struggling offense.
The eight runs matched the Reds’ total for the previous four games combined.
“I thought we were a little more aggressive tonight, offensively,” Baker said. “We were attacking pitches earlier in the count.”
San Francisco (39-43) has lost nine of its past 11 games. The Giants’ only run came on Brandon Belt’s solo homer in the fifth inning.
Arroyo (7-6) allowed one run. He walked one and struck out three while earning his 14th career complete game, his first of the rain-shortened variety.
Giants starter Mike Kickham (0-3) has lost each of his three career starts. He pitched a perfect first inning for the third straight start, but Cincinnati tagged him for four runs in the second.
Frazier’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Zack Cozart put the Reds ahead 2-0. A two-run double by Derrick Robinson made the score 4-0.
“It seems the first inning has gone really well for me for whatever reason,” Kickham said. “In the second and third innings, I’m just kind of struggling.”
Cincinnati hadn’t scored four runs in an inning since June 11.
“It was nice to get that four-spot early,” Arroyo said. “It allowed me to be more free and easy with more room for error.”
With runners on first and second with one out in the third, Frazier launched Kickham’s 2-1 pitch 441 feet into the left field bleachers. That three-run shot put the Reds ahead 7-0.
“He was throwing his fastball over the plate, and you can’t miss those,” Frazier said of Kickham.
Kickham lasted only 2 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits. The Giants already had used three relievers when the rain hit.
“You want to play, but with what we were looking at, with it flooding in there, at some point we’ve got to draw the line,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “You want to play the game, but it was pretty bad out there.”
NOTES: The teams met for the first time since Game 5 of the 2012 National League Division Series. The Giants rallied from a 2-0 deficit in that series with three consecutive wins at Great American Ball Park en route to a World Series title. “Walking in here, it crossed my mind, the exciting playoff series we had here,” Bochy said. … Robinson batted leadoff for the 11th time, something Baker prefers when facing a left-handed starter. … Kickham doubled in the third for his first career hit. … Frazier’s homer was his first since June 11. … San Francisco’s Buster Posey, who earned NL Player of the Week honors after batting a big-league-best .500 last week, was back behind the plate Monday after playing first base the past two games due to tightness in his legs. .. Belt’s homer was his ninth of the season, tying a career high. .. Arroyo threw the Reds’ first rain-shortened complete game since Cory Lidle pitched five innings in a victory over Atlanta in 2004.