In his first at-bat, Brian Giles homered. Two at-bats later, he homered again. Any questions about why he was chosen as the Pittsburgh Pirates' representative to the All-Star game?

Brian Giles slides home as Kelly Stinnett waits for the throw. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Giles joined an impressive collection of outfield All-Stars on Wednesday, then proved he belonged. Giles had three hits for the third straight day, including a pair of homers, as the Pirates beat the Reds 14-3 and finally escaped last place.

        The NL's worst road team has won its first three games in Cincinnati, with Giles leading the way. He's gotten three hits in each game, going 9-for-11 with three homers and five RBIs — a performance so impressive that even his teammates are saying, “Wow.”

        “He's probably starting to surprise me a little bit,” manager Lloyd McClendon said. “He's really locked in right now. He's hit breaking balls, fastballs, balls in, balls away, pitches up, pitches down.”

        And he's hit them all the same way — hard.

        “When anybody gets hot, it kind of spreads through the lineup,” Giles said. “We're trying to build on it and turn it around.”

        The Pirates had been at the bottom of the NL Central for the last 81 days, languishing with a weak offense and an injury-decimated rotation. Neither was evident in their breakout game.

        Pittsburgh hit a season-high five homers and rookie Joe Beimel (4-4) made his best start yet as the Pirates leapfrogged a half-game ahead of the Reds in front of 17,972 booing fans — Cincinnati's third-smallest crowd of the season.

        Cincinnati native Adam Hyzdu homered twice and Jack Wilson had a two-run shot as the Pirates reached season highs in runs and hits (19). Aramis Ramirez had a career-high four hits, including a bases-loaded double during a six-run eighth inning.

        “Beating somebody up is a lot of fun,” Hyzdu said. “That doesn't happen very often.”

        Beimel, a reliever moved into the rotation, gave up three runs and five hits in a career-best 5 2-3 innings. He also got the Reds to ground into four double plays.

        Until this week, the Pirates hadn't done much of anything on the road — only one series win and a 13-31 mark that is the NL's worst. They came to the right place to win a few.

        The Reds have lost 31 of their 41 games at Cinergy Field, the worst home record in the majors. They have the league's worst overall record (32-51) after their most lopsided loss of the season.

        Giles, who got a $1 million contract increase by making the All-Star team for a second straight season, hit a solo homer in his first at-bat off Brian Reith (0-7), a rookie out of Double-A who was optioned back after the game.

        Wilson also had a two-run homer in the first off Reith, who gave up seven hits and six runs in 3 2-3 innings. Reith, who was one of four rookies in the Reds' rotation, gave up 13 homers in 40 1-3 innings for a 7.81 ERA.

        Hyzdu, who grew up in Cincinnati and broke Ken Griffey Jr.'s home run record at Moeller High School, hit a solo homer off Jim Brower in the seventh and a two-run shot off Frankie Rodriguez in the eighth.

        Hyzdu, who played on a Little League team sponsored by former Reds owner Marge Schott, had not played at Cinergy Field since high school.

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