A night after the San Francisco Giants buried the Reds with a six-run barrage in one inning, the Reds returned the favor Wednesday night — scoring six fifth-inning run on the way to an 11-9 victory before 22,114 fans at Cinergy Field.

Ken Griffey Jr. scores as Giants catcher Benito Santiago bobbles the ball in the fourth inning. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        But as good as the hitting was by both teams, the key play of the night was a catch by Ken Griffey Jr. in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and the Reds trying to protect their 9-7 lead.

        Jeff Kent blasted a drive to deep right-center, but Griffey drifted back and timed his leap perfectly, grabbing the ball at about the 11-foot mark just before it smacked into the green padding.

        Griffey did a backward roll after he caromed off the wall, then held the ball high for the umpires to see. The fans gave him a standing ovation.

        “That's why he's a superstar,” said Giants manager Dusty Baker. “If he's not hitting, then he's taking them away from you.”

        Trailing 5-2 going into the fifth inning, the Reds used six hits — including a leadoff double by Juan Castro, a bases-loaded double by Aaron Boone and an RBI triple by Dmitri Young — to take an 8-5 lead on the way to their ninth win in their last 11 games.

Adam Dunn is safe at second on Jeff Kent's error. | ZOOM |

        “This game's a lot of fun, especially when you're winning and everybody's hitting,” said Sean Casey. “Since Adam Dunn and Todd Walker came over here, we've really been swinging the bats well.”

        The second slickest play of the night (after Griffey's) came on Boone's double. The ball rattled around the left-field corner for a while, but when Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia received the relay, he released it with double-play quickness and strength — and most impressively, accuracy — to nail Casey with a one-hop throw to the plate.

        Griffey singled home Walker, who had hit a leadoff double, in the sixth inning to make it 9-5.

        The Giants added two runs in the eighth to make the score 9-7, but Dunn launched a two-run homer off the facade of the green seats in deep right-center to make it 11-7 in the bottom half of the inning.

        “They'd been pounding me in all night and I hadn't been able to do anything with it,” Dunn said. “That pitch was middle-in, and I was able to get a good piece of wood on it. That's baseball. Claw and scratch and come out with a victory.”

Kent covers his head as he slides into third. | ZOOM |

        Young, who had a double to go with that fifth-inning triple, was thrilled when the ball left Dunn's bat because of the cushion it provided.

        “These are the Giants we're dealing with here,” Young said. “They're in a pennant race right now. They've been pulling rabbits out of their hat all year, and they were looking to do it again.”

        The Giants closed to 11-9 in the ninth inning, thanks to three straight hits, including an RBI double by Benito Santiago off Danny Graves. But Graves, who gave up four runs in one inning of work to take the loss Tuesday, got an RBI groundout, a strikeout on an off-speed pitch, and another groundout to end it. It was save No.20 for Graves.

        “Gully (Reds pitching coach Don Gullett) worked with Sully (Scott Sullivan) and me before the game,” Graves said. “One little mechanical thing enabled me to stay on top of the ball and not force it. That, and another of pitching to tire me out a little bit, helped the sinker, too.”

        The walls took a pounding Wednesday from baseballs and outfielders in pursuit of them. In the seventh inning, Kent blasted one 25 feet high off the 40-foot high center-field barrier for a double, played well by Griffey.

        The Reds, who Tuesday night had rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take the game into extra innings only to have it blown open by three Giants home runs in the 11th inning, returned to the role of spoiler Wednesday.

        What made the six-run rally in the eighth inning so entertaining is every at-bat, beginning with Castro's, carried tension. The comeback unfolded with station-to-station baseball, no home runs.

        It was old-fashioned ball — baserunning, outfielders chasing down balls in the gap, and relay throws.

        Young's triple was especially riveting, because he appeared winded after the long run but still managed to give the wiggling-fingers' salute to his teammates after dusting himself off. Fans applauded loudly.

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