Happy Ken Griffey Jr. hugs Barry Larkin after Reds' first win. (Jeff Swinger photos) | ZOOM |

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        Ken Griffey got a hit. The Reds got a win. And all is well in Redsland. Winning has a way of doing that.

        The Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 before a crowd of 20,909 at Cinergy Field Thursday night for the Reds' first win of the year. The formula for victory was one the Reds hope to use a lot this year: solid starting pitching, potent offense and stingy relief pitching.

        “We did what he had to do,” said Ron Villone, who started and got the victory.

        The Reds entered the game 0-2, but that compounded with Monday's washout tie, and the high expectations made the fans a little restless. The Reds felt that.

        “Guys want to win,” Griffey said. “You want to put on a good show for the fans. You start trying to do too much.”

        Griffey's first hit was an example of taking what was there. He worked the count to 3-2, then sliced a single the opposite way to left to score Pokey Reese with the first run.

Aaron Boone is greeted by Michael Tucker after Boone's two-run homer. | ZOOM |

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        The Reds kept adding on. They had only seven hits, but they made the most of them. Michael Tucker and Aaron Boone homered for the Reds. The Reds scored in each of the first four innings to go up 5-0.

        The lead was more than Villone needed. He didn't throw any gem — 5ö innings, seven hits, one run, three strikeouts, two walks — but he held the early lead the Reds gave him.

        “I'm not worried about us hitting,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. “The key was we held them. I've said if we get good pitching and a couple, three runs, we'll be OK.”

        The bullpen finished with 3 1/3 scoreless innings to close it out. Scott Sullivan went 1ô innings, followed by one inning each from Dennys Reyes and Scott Williamson.

        “We're getting the bullpen set up like we want it,” McKeon said.

        The offense clicked from the start. Reese led off the Reds' first with a single. He moved to second on Barry Larkin's groundout. That brought up Griffey, who was 0-for-10.

Ron Villone gave up one run in 5 2/3. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The Brewers used the Griffey Shift. That put third baseman Jose Hernandez where the shortstop usually plays, in no position to cover third, and Reese stole the base easily.

        Griffey dropped a line drive into left field. Reese scored to make it 1-0.

        Griffey was 1-for-4.

        “I'm trying to get adjusted,” Griffey said. “The last time I was in this ballpark, I was a senior in high school.”

        The Reds added a run in the second on Michael Tucker's two-out, opposite-field home run, his second of the year.

        Reese got on for the ninth time in 13 plate appearances with a single in the third. Larkin hit a bolt into the left-center-field gap for a double to score Reese and make it a 3-0 game.

Pokey Reese tags out Marquis Grissom trying to steal in the first. | ZOOM |

        Boone got in the act in the fourth. He ended a season-opening 0-for-11 skid with a bolt to left field for a two-run homer. That made it 5-0.

        “It was nice to get the first hit, first home run and first RBI all out of the way,” Boone said.

        The 5-0 lead looked pretty secure because of the way Villone had settled down.

        “Getting the lead makes it so much easier,” Villone said. “It gives you confidence to let these guys make plays.”

        Villone got in trouble in the sixth. Jeromy Burnitz led off with a walk. Two outs later, Hernandez singled. Ron Belliard followed with a double to score Burnitz.

Michael Tucker is congratulated by Ron Oester after his solo HR. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        That was it for Villone.

        Sullivan came on. Henry Blanco scorched Sullivan's first pitch. Larkin knocked it down, picked it up and got Blanco with a one-hop throw to first.

        “You don't mind handing (the ball) off,” Villone said. “I wasn't tired. But maybe I was trying too hard.”

        The win might end that trying too hard stuff for everyone.

        “Everything's contagious,” Griffey said. “Hitting's contagious. Defense is contagious ... ”

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