Venable hits first of Padres' 3 homers in 6-2 win over Reds

CINCINNATI (AP) On a rainy night that left the field wet and brought the bullpen into play, San Diego was solid all-around.

Will Venable hit the first of San Diego's three solo homers on Friday night, taking advantage of Jon Moscot's shaky debut, and the Padres pulled away to a 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in a rain-delayed game.

Will Middlebrooks and Derek Norris also connected for the Padres, who matched their season high for homers. Every starter except the pitcher had a hit.

The bullpen was sharp, allowing only one hit over the last four innings. And both teams made several spectacular defensive plays.

''It starts with pitching and defense, and that's what we were able to do,'' said Yonder Alonso, who drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the first run. ''Today was one of those days when we were clicking on all cylinders. It was just fun to watch and fun to play.''

The Reds lost for the 13th time in 18 games, unable to overcome a rough first inning by another rookie starter. They've used four rookies in the rotation this season.

Moscot (0-1) was called up to fill in for the injured Raisel Iglesias. The right-hander threw 37 pitches in the first inning alone, walking three batters, including Alonso with the bases loaded.

''The patience was the key,'' manager Bud Black said. ''I think we were just patient. It wasn't by design or to see what he had or to wait him out. We just had good at-bats. Eventually he got some balls up.''

Tyson Ross improved to 4-0 in his career against the Reds by going five innings before heavy rain moved in.

Ross (3-5) allowed five hits, including Joey Votto's two-run single, before a delay of 69 minutes in the top of the sixth.

''I was definitely hoping to continue after that,'' Ross said. ''After 30 minutes of the delay, Bud told me, `You're done for the day.' I was hoping to wait it out.''

The Reds have scored a total of four runs off Ross over his career. They got only one hit off the bullpen after the rain delay.

San Diego's two runs in the first inning gave it 42 in the opening inning this season, the most in the National League.

Venable's fourth homer made it 3-0 in the second inning. Middlebrooks hit his eighth homer an inning later. Moscot lasted five innings, giving up four hits and three walks while throwing 83 pitches.

Morris homered in the seventh off Pedro Villarreal, who also was called up from Triple-A before the game.

TUMBLING

Right fielder Matt Kemp made a diving catch of Todd Frazier's sinking liner in the third inning, rolled on the ground, started to get up, then fell and did a 360-degree tumble before popping up with the ball still in his glove.

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN ...

There have been seven rain delays at Great American Ball Park this season totaling 11 hours, 49 minutes. There's been a delay at GABP every day of the week except Tuesday. ... It was the Padres' third rain delay of the season overall. The other two were at Los Angeles and San Diego.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Padres: Wil Myers' left wrist felt good after swinging a bat. He's been on the disabled list since May 19 with tendinitis. If he feels good after hitting again on Saturday, he'll start a minor league rehab assignment.

Reds: Iglesias had soreness in his left side following his start last Saturday and it bothered him when he tried to throw again, prompting the Reds to put him on the 15-day DL on Friday with a strained oblique.

UP NEXT

Padres: RH Andrew Cashner (2-8) is coming off his shortest outing, 4 2-3 innings of a 7-0 loss to the Mets. He leads the majors in losses.

Reds: RH Michael Lorenzen (1-1) makes his third consecutive start after two relief appearances. He's 0-0 with a 2.03 ERA in those last two starts.

---

Follow Joe Kay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apjoekay