CINCINNATI(AP) -- John Smoltz had trouble gripping the ball
Wednesday night and is hoping he still has a chance at being a
postseason starter for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Smoltz gave up Laynce Nix's first career grand slam in four
shaky innings as the Cardinals lost 6-1 to the Cincinnati Reds.

St. Louis has dropped three straight since clinching the NL
Central title with a 6-3 win Saturday at Colorado and lost five
of six overall. Smoltz (1-3) gave up six runs and six hits with
five walks and three strikeouts.

"I'm not even going to look at it as a game I can get really mad
about," Smoltz said. "I'm certainly not going to look at my body
of work and say this game was indicative of the way I've been
throwing."

Manager Tony La Russa was more concerned about his team's lack
of offense.

"The score is what it is and that's all I'm going to say about
it," La Russa said. "I take a positive in that they scored six
runs early and didn't score any more after that. We got just one
run. Obviously, there is more that our offense should produce."

Bronson Arroyo allowed one run and four hits in 8 1-3 innings,
falling just short of his fourth complete game of the season.
The right-hander improved to 7-5 with a 2.07 ERA in his last 16
starts, tying his career high with his 15th victory of the
season.

"I'm happy with my season," said Arroyo, who didn't miss a start
despite getting two cortisone shots in his right hand to treat
carpal tunnel syndrome. "It hasn't gone the way we wanted it to
as a team, but physically, I felt good. Those two shots got me
where I am now."

Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker replaced Arroyo with Nick Masset
after Mark DeRosa flied out with a runner on first, bringing
Albert Pujols to the plate.

"He said he was running on empty and his legs were spent," Baker
said. "When I heard that, you go get him, especially late in the
season, 111 pitches and Pujols up there."

The Cardinals loaded the bases before Ryan Ludwick struck out to
end the game.

Cincinnati scored twice in the second and four in the third as
Smoltz struggled with his control. The gametime temperature was
59 degrees, and the right-hander had trouble gripping the ball.
He tossed several out of play even before trying to pitch with
them.

Balls are supposed to be rubbed with a special mud before each
game, a job usually performed by the home team's clubhouse crew.

"I've been pitching a long time," Smoltz said. "It's the worst
baseballs I've ever pitched with in my life. The other guy was
pitching with them, too. He did a nice job. It was part of the
battle. I went out and battled. I had no feel for the baseball.
That's about the worst thing you can have as a pitcher. They
were brand new. They were absolutely not rubbed up. You can
blame it on the weather but the balls were not rubbed up."

"They were fine for me," Arroyo said. "They don't mud them up as
much here as they do at other places. It was a cool night, and
it's hard to hold on sometimes."

Smoltz threw 43 of his 87 pitches in the second and issued three
of his five walks, including one to Drew Stubbs with the bases
loaded that gave Cincinnati a 2-0 lead. Two more walks
sandwiched around Scott Rolen's double loaded the bases before
Nix's 15th homer of the season.

"We really wanted to win this one for Bronson," Nix said. "He's
been so solid all year, especially the last two months. We were
happy that we were able to finish this one off and get this
win."

Smoltz, who signed with St. Louis as a free agent on Aug. 19, is
0-3 in six starts since winning at San Diego in his Cardinals
debut on Aug. 23.

Arroyo (15-13) retired his first nine batters before Skip
Schumaker led off the fourth with a sinking liner to left that
just got under the glove of the diving Nix. After DeRosa struck
out, Pujols lined an RBI single into center field.

NOTES: Arroyo also had 15 wins last season for the Reds. ...
Cincinnati activated OF Chris Dickerson from the 15-day disabled
list before the game. Dickerson had been on the DL since Aug. 25
with a severely sprained left ankle. ... RHP Justin Lehr will
start for Cincinnati on Friday against Pittsburgh instead of LHP
Matt Maloney, who needs more time to get completely over a
blister on his left middle finger.