Dennys Reyes (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        PITTSBURGH — Dennys Reyes, possibly down to his final chance as a starter, had his best outing of the year.

        Reyes went five innings, allowing only one run, in the Reds' 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates before a crowd of 33,214 at PNC Park Sunday afternoon.

        The victory gave the Reds a split in the four-game series and kept them three games ahead of last-place Pirates in the National League Central.

        Before Sunday, Reyes was 0-4 with a 7.54 ERA in five starts.

        Though he went only five innings, Reyes was relatively pitch-efficient. He threw 80 pitches, 50 of which were strikes.

        Reyes' last win as a starter was Aug. 30, 1998, when the Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 14-7. With Joey Hamilton set to join the rotation, Reyes could have been sent back to the bullpen.

        That could still happen, but Reyes made a case for another start.

        Reyes, a 24-year-old left-hander, was a starter in the minor leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

        The Reds initially used him in that role after obtaining him in the Jeff Shaw trade in 1998. But he had been strictly a situational reliever in the last two years. Given the Reds' limited budget and the high price of starting pitching, everyone with a good arm is being considered for the 2002 rotation.

        The Reds started the game with something novel: A walk. The base on balls Todd Walker coaxed was the first by a Red in 20 innings. Adam Dunn followed with another walk.

        Two outs later, Aaron Boone scored them with a double to center field. Robin Jennings followed with a double to score Boone.

        The Reds' bats came alive. Seven of their eight hits were doubles. The had a total of three extra-base hits in the first three games of the series. Boone had two doubles and two RBI.

        “I think for whatever reason we were a little sluggish here for a couple of days,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “Today we swung the bats better and got some runs early.”

        Danny Graves struck out Pittsburgh slugger Aramis Ramirez to escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning.

        “We had the situation we wanted with Ramirez up,” Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. “He (Graves) made a good pitch and got one of the hottest hitters in the league.”

        Graves worked the ninth for his 26th save, though he allowed a two-out RBI double to Jack Wilson.

        “We made it a little hair-raising,” Bob Boone said. “It was supposed to be a much easier game.”

        The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Reds 5, Pirates 3 Reds' coaches in limbo Hamilton to get start MacRae finally gives up run Reds-Cubs Scouting Report Pirates worry about pitcher's injury Reds box, runs

Bengals 23, Patriots 17
Bengals-Patriots statistics
DAUGHERTY: Bengals take 'big step'
SULLIVAN: Narrow stop has big meaning
Kitna gets passing grade
Scott catches up after lost season
Defense welcomes Simmons
Bengals report card
Injured McNair may miss Bengals
Replacement refs get few complaints
Fans aflutter with optimism
UC aglow over Guidugli
PREP FOOTBALL COVERAGE
Bonds hits Nos. 61, 62, 63
Cawood Ledford laid to rest in Harlan

• Return to Reds front page...