Aaron Boone acknowledges the crowd's cheers. (Michael E. Keating photo) ZOOM |

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        Aaron Boone would not use baseball's latest catch phrase to describe it. “I refuse to call it a walk-off home run,” Boone said. “It was a game-winning home run.”

        Semantics aside, Boone's two-run, opposite-field shot in the bottom of the ninth inning had the Reds bouncing around home plate in celebration. Boone's big home run gave the Reds an 11-9 victory over the San Diego Padres before a crowd of 24,825 at Cinergy Field Thursday.

        The Reds are also playing like it's 1999. They have won four straight. They closed the homestand 5-1. They are three games over .500 (18-15) for the first time this year and within 1 1/2 games of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central for the first time since April 17.

        No one in the clubhouse could talk about the victory without mentioning last year.

        “We won a lot of games like that last year,” catcher Eddie Taubensee said. “We won a lot of games in the late innings and went out of the field and jumped around. This was like that.”

Boone found himself at the center of 'The Bounce.' (Michael E. Keating photo) ZOOM |

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        The Bounce was back.

        The Bounce is the group hug/dance the Reds do around home plate after especially sweet wins. And Thursday's was as sweet as they come.

        “That was the best one this year,” Sean Casey said of the postgame Bounce, although he could have been talking about the victory. “The other ones were kind of half-hearted. There was a lot of energy and excite ment. You got a bunch of grown men out there jumping around after playing a kids game. ... it was great.”

        The victory was as unlikely as it was sweet:

        • Reds starter Rob Bell lasted only two innings and put the Reds in a 5-0 hole.

        • The Reds came back to go up 6-5, then fell behind 9-6, thanks to some shoddy defense (Dmitri Young and Dante Bichette played balls into an inside-the-ballpark home run and a triple in the three-run sixth, and Dennys Reyes' misplay of a bunt led to a run in the seventh).

        But the Reds, after stutter-stepping through the early part of the season, are hitting their stride.

Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 10th homer. (AP photo) ZOOM |

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        “It's building,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. “You get that feeling on the bench. Even when were down 9-6, I thought we'd win. When we were down 5-0, I predicted we'd win. I didn't think it would turn out how it did. I thought it would be 6-5 but. ...”

        The Reds were able to come back because the big bats came alive. Boone, Casey, Ken Griffey Jr. and Bichette all homered. But the Reds also got clutch hits. Hal Morris had a two-run, pinch-hit double; Boone and Casey had back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the seventh; Michael Tucker had a pinch-hit single and scored in the eighth.

        That set up Boone. His brother and former Red, Bret, had already hit two home runs on the day. Little brother got the last and biggest one, though.

        Matt Whisenant walked Bichette to start the ninth. Casey was called out on strikes.

        Whisenant started Boone with a ball, then got a ball out on the outer half of the plate. Boone went with it. It was a high drive to right that hit the foul screen.

        “I was just hoping it would get out,” Boone said. “I thought I hit it pretty good, but it's only my second opposite-field homer ever.”

        By the time Boone rounded the bases, the Reds were on the field, ready to bounce.

        The Reds headed to Houston after the game for four with the Astros. A little tailwind is following them now.

        “We have a lot of positives going right now,” Casey said. “You want to keep the ball rolling. You can feel this team coming together.”

        Again. ... like last year. The Reds came from behind to win 45 times last year. They won 21 games in the final at-bat and had — pardon the expression, Aaron — 11 walk-off wins.

        None was any better than Thursday's.

        “It was marvelous the way we battled back today,” McKeon said. “We lost the lead then battled back again. The team showed character.”

        ... Like last year.

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