A few raindrops and a delay of less than hour didn't cool the Arizona Diamondbacks' bats Thursday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. But the Diamondbacks couldn't hang onto a six-run lead and couldn't keep the Reds' Brandon Phillips from hurting them in a 7-6 loss.
Rarely-used catcher Henry Blanco hit his first home run of the season to give Arizona a 6-0 lead, but by the bottom of the seventh inning, the Reds had caught and passed the D-backs. A pair of walks by reliever Bryan Shaw and a fielding error by first baseman Paul Goldschmidt opened the door for Phillips, who already had hit a three-run home run earlier in the game, to hit a two-run double to tie it at 6.
Then Todd Frazier singled in Phillips with two out off Brad Ziegler, and the Reds were on their way to a split of the four-game series.
The Diamondbacks (44-48) seemed to have this game well in hand after Blanco's two-run shot chased Reds starter Mike Leake in the top of the sixth inning. The former Arizona State star had turned in strong outings in his previous five starts, but it wasn't to be on Thursday as the Diamondbacks scored single runs in the first, second and third innings.
Aaron Hill had a big day for the Diamondbacks, with a pair of hits and runs batted in including a solo home run in the fifth. Doubles by Justin Upton and Chris Young accounted for another run. The Diamondbacks scored 13 runs in the final two games of the series against a Reds team missing injured star Joey Votto.
Phillips took Diamondbacks starter Joe Saunders deep for a three-run home in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-3. Saunders held the Reds hitless until the fifth, but the Reds rallied with Phillips' home run plus the error on Goldschmidt that allowed Xavier Paul to score from second base.
Shaw (1-4) walked Paul and Drew Stubbs to lead off the inning, then Wilson Valdez reached on the error that allowed Paul to score. Phillips then hit the game-tying double.
The Diamondbacks went down without a baserunner against hard-throwing Reds All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman in the top of the ninth.
Blanco, Goldschmidt, Hill and Willie Bloomquist each had two hits for the Diamondbacks, who are seven games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the NL West with a long homestand starting this weekend at Chase Field.