Kent homers, doubles during first inning

CINCINNATI (AP) -- It didn't take the Los Angeles Dodgers long to get their offense going Friday night.

Jeff Kent had a two-run homer and a three-run double in a 10-run first inning as the Dodgers snapped out of a slump with a 13-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

"Kent did a week's worth of damage," Los Angeles manager Jim Tracy said.

Hee Seop Choi also hit a two-run homer for Los Angeles, which sent 14 batters to the plate in a half-inning that lasted 27 minutes.

Ricky Ledee hit a two-run double and scored on Jason Phillips'

double in the first. The Dodgers had scored a total of 10 runs while splitting their previous four games.

"We've been creating opportunities to score runs," Tracy said. "Sometimes you don't get them, but our approach never changed."

Paul Wilson (1-3), the No. 1 starter in a rotation with the National League's 15th-worst ERA going into the game, failed to retire a batter for the second time in three seasons with the Reds. He allowed eight runs, five hits, one walk and hit two batters. His ERA rose from 5.25 to 7.25.

"I've got to go out and stop the bleeding, not make it worse," Wilson said. "It was terrible. Hitting a guy leading off was not good. Even after Kent's home run, I thought I could keep it close, but I just couldn't stop it."

The rotation's ERA rose from 5.36 to 5.87.

"He had a hard time throwing strikes, and he was getting the ball up," Kent said. "This is a good hitters' park, and if you do that, you're in trouble."

Matt Belisle relieved Wilson after eight batters and gave up two walks and Kent's double. The two threw a combined 52 pitches. Los Angeles had six hits in the inning, including five for extra bases.

In his third start since coming off the disabled list on April 24, Brad Penny (2-0) took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before Ryan Freel broke it up with a one-out triple to right field. Penny allowed one hit and two walks with four strikeouts in seven shutout innings.

"If you spot him 10 runs, you can pretty much think you have it made," Tracy said.

The Dodgers scored 10 runs in an inning for the fourth time since moving to Los Angeles, the first since Sept. 13, 1977, in the second inning against San Diego. According to the Dodgers, Kent matched the franchise record of five RBI in an inning, set in that game by current Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker.

"I can't ever remember getting that big of a cushion," Penny said. "It was tough to keep my focus. I had to pretend it was 0-0. I didn't want to walk anybody."

Los Angeles also scored 10 runs in an inning at San Diego on June 28, 1969, and at San Francisco on July 4, 1971.

Cincinnati has lost eight straight and gave up 10 runs in the first inning for the first time since allowing a National League-record 15 in a 19-1 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers on May 21, 1952.

"I wanted to be the guy to [stop] it, and I didn't do it," Wilson said. "Ten runs in the first inning -- how can I expect the offense to come back from that? They can't."

The last time the Reds gave up 10 runs in an inning was on June 14, 2003, in the eighth inning against Philadelphia. They blew a six-run lead by giving up seven runs in the top of the ninth of a 10-9 loss to St. Louis on Monday.

"Sometimes, you get into a [losing] streak and guys subconsciously try to do more than they're capable of doing," said Cincinnati manager Dave Miley, who'd hoped Thursday's day off would relax his team. "It doesn't help that you have a pitcher the caliber of Brad Penny on the mound. All you can do is try to step back and regroup."

Choi added a solo homer off David Weathers in the seventh. Austin Kearns broke up the shutout with a pinch-hit two-run homer off D.J. Houlton in the eighth and Felipe Lopez added a two-run double off Houlton in the ninth.Game notes
Ken Griffey Jr. was the cleanup hitter for the first time this season after batting second in his previous 23 starts. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-run double in the eighth inning. ... Freel's start in right field gave him at least one start at five positions this season. ... Reds reliever Ricky Stone pitched two innings after the team purchased his contract from Triple-A Louisville earlier in the day. ... Shortstop Cesar Izturis returned to the Dodgers lineup after fouling a ball off of his left ankle and leaving Wednesday's loss to Washington in the sixth inning. ... Choi's two-homer game was the second of his career. He hit two on April 10, 2004, for Florida against Philadelphia.