The Cincinnati Reds sent 14 men to the plate in a nine-run seventh inning and got a strong start from Bronson Arroyo en route to a 12-0 pasting of the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

Brandon Phillips homered and Jonny Gomes and Ramon Hernandez drove in two apiece for the Reds, who have won three straight and nine of 11.

Clinging to a 1-0 edge going into the seventh, Ryan Dempster walked the first two batters before Hernandez reached on an error to load the bases. Dempster (6-7) struck out Drew Stubbs but walked Arroyo to force in a run. Rookie Brian Schlitter came on in relief and did not fare any better, allowing all three inherited runners to score and yielding five runs of his own as the inning got out of hand.

Arroyo was lifted after the rally despite a pitch count of only 89. The veteran right-hander surrendered two hits and walked a pair while striking out three in six scoreless frames to move to 8-4 on the season. Arroyo recorded 12 groundouts against three flyouts.

Joey Votto added a two-run homer in the eighth - his 19th of the year.