Jason LaRue celebrates with Pokey Reese after LaRue scored the winning run. (Yuli Wu photos) | ZOOM |

        Luckless, sloppy, frustrating defeats have become woven into the Reds' fabric this season. Saturday, they finally had the chance to watch another team fray.

        Cincinnati seized upon scattered but crucial Cleveland Indians goofs — which nullified the Reds' earlier mistakes — to secure a 6-5, 13-inning victory.

        The remnants of a crowd of 40,794, the Reds' first home sellout since Opening Day, watched Ruben Rivera's bases-loaded sacrifice fly off John Rocker (2-3) deliver Jason LaRue with the tiebreaking run in the 13th.

        Rivera, who occupied right field after entering the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, also preserved the 5-5 tie in the ninth inning by soaring above the outfield wall to grab Omar Vizquel's bid for a home run.

        “We'll be watching Rivera's play for a long time, I think,” Reds manager Bob Boone said.

        Enduring this game required watching for a long time, too. Its four-hour, 33-minute duration was a Reds season high; the 13 innings matched the most Cincinnati has played.

John Rocker helped the Reds with his wildness. | ZOOM |

        Fortunately for the Reds, Rocker imploded.

        He opened the 13th by grazing LaRue, who was batting for reliever Danny Graves (3-2). Taking his cue from the Reds, whose pitchers committed three throwing errors, Rocker overthrew first base on Kelly Stinnett's sacrifice-bunt attempt, then walked pinch hitter Juan Castro on four pitches to load the bases.

        Up came Rivera, who lifted a 2-2 pitch to left field.

        Cleveland appeared poised to complete its sweep of the three-game interleague series, grabbing a 5-0 lead. Reds starter Jim Brower threw wildly after fielding a second-inning sacrifice, generating a pair of unearned runs, and allowed home runs to Ellis Burks and Juan Gonzalez that landed on the Great American Ball Park construction site. Gonzalez's fifth-inning blast, a two-run shot, was measured at 441 feet, the year's longest at Cinergy Field.

        But the last-place Reds (34-56), who broke a five-game losing streak, rescued themselves with a five-run seventh inning, Rivera's feats and three scoreless innings apiece from Scott Sullivan and Graves.

        “It was real refreshing — for a day, anyway,” Sullivan said.

Pete Harnisch, on the disabled list, watches his team fall behind 5-0. | ZOOM |

        The refreshment period began after right-hander Dave Burba, the former Red, allowed just five singles in six innings. Through that point, the Reds had scored in just two of 39 innings. Failing to generate an offense against Burba, who had recorded a 9.31 ERA in his previous four starts, accented the Reds' futility.

        Then came the seventh, which Stinnett ignited with a one-out homer. After Burba walked Bill Selby and Rivera, reliever Paul Shuey coaxed a potential double-play grounder from Pokey Reese. But third baseman Travis Fryman mishandled the ball and threw too late to second base, loading the bases.

        Cincinnati's good fortune continued as Dmitri Young chopped a two-run double over third base. Ken Griffey Jr. added a sacrifice fly and Sean Casey drove an opposite-field RBI double to left off Ricardo Rincon.

        “We did take advantage of several plays today,” Boone said. “It was kind of fun that it happened to somebody else.”

        Casey's ball, however, struck barely beneath the top of the wall, suggesting that the Reds' luck had expired. “I thought it was (a home run), but I guess that's the way things are going,” said Casey, who'll be exam ined today for an injured left ankle.

        But Rivera's leaping catch launched a series of Reds defensive gems. Double plays helped them escape the 10th and 13th innings. Graves, who nimbly assisted on four putouts, also wiggled out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the 12th inning by retiring pinch hitter Wil Cordero on a line drive to left.

Reese is tagged out at home to end the 12th inning. | ZOOM |

        Cincinnati's bases-loaded, one-out threat in the 12th evaporated as Aaron Boone flied out to shallow right field and Gonzalez gunned down Reese at home plate to complete a disputed double play.

        With the late-afternoon sun torturing hitters and Rocker firing seeds, the Reds didn't appear bound to score anytime soon.

        “Usually that's when we're taking batting practice,” LaRue said, referring to the 5p.m. hour. “When a guy's throwing pretty soft (in batting practice), it's not too hard to see. But when you have Rocker throwing in the upper 90s with a pretty good curveball and slider, it's hard to pick up the spin on the ball and the release point, with the shadows and glare in the background.”

        For once, the Reds had enough to overcome the adversity they faced.

        “Everybody on the team,” said LaRue, “played a part in getting us this win.”

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