The Arizona Diamondbacks were in need of a losing-streak stopper, and Tyler Skaggs did everything he could to be that guy. But Skaggs ran out of gas in the top of the sixth inning, giving up a solo home run to Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo that gave the visitors the lead for good in Arizona's home loss.
The home run hit a post just beyond the left-field seats, but that wasn't apparent to the umpiring crew at first. The Reds called for a replay review, and what was originally a double was changed to a home run to give the Reds a 3-2 lead.
Cincinnati, the leaders in the NL Central, improved to 78-52 and look poised to run away with their division. The Diamondbacks, swept in three games by the San Diego Padres over the past weekend, dropped their fourth straight game and fell back below .500 at 64-65.
With 33 games left to play in the regular season, the Diamondbacks are 7 1/2 games out of first place in the NL West and 7 1/2 out of the final wild card playoff spot in the National League.
It looks grim.
Justin Upton gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead with his 11th home run of the season, a solo shot to left field off Reds starter Bronson Arroyo in the bottom of the second. The Reds tied it in the third with Brandon Phillips' RBI double.
In the fourth, Skaggs ran into trouble, loading the bases after he hit Drew Stubbs with a pitch. Wilson Valdez hit a comebacker to Skaggs, who threw to first base for what should have been the final out of the innings.
The throw wasn't bad, but first baseman Paul Goldschmidt didn't squeeze his mitt in time for the catch and Scott Rolen came home to give the Reds a 2-1 lead.
Upton brought the Diamondbacks back with an RBI single to tie it at 2.
The Reds took the lead again with Arroyo's home run, and turned things over to their bullpen after the sixth inning. Sean Marshall, Jonathan Broxton and closer Aroldis Chapman shut out the D-backs over the last three innings to help the Reds to the win and send the D-backs to 2-6 on their current homestand.
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