SS Gookie Dawkins makes an over-the-shoulder diving catch in front of LF Juan Encarnacion. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        PITTSBURGH — Elmer Dessens was so unaccustomed to having baserunners Monday that when the Pittsburgh Pirates put a runner in scoring position, Dessens was discombobulated.

        Brian Giles had doubled with one out in the sixth. With Dessens ahead 0-1 to Aramis Ramirez, catcher Jason LaRue put down a sign and Dessens started his motion for the second pitch.

        But with a runner at second, it's not the first sign you go on.

        “He saw the sign and started going,” LaRue said. “I was still putting down signs. He tried to stop.”

        When he did, home plate umpire Brian Gorman immediately signaled balk. Giles went to third, the scored on Ramirez's sacrifice fly.

        Dessens matched Villone pitch for pitch. Dessens, 0-2, went seven innings, allowing four hits and the one run. He walked two and struck out four. Villone also allowed four hits and two walks. He struck out three.

Elmer Dessens reacts to his balk. | ZOOM |

        That was the difference as the Pirates beat the Reds 1-0 before a sellout crowd of 36,402 on Opening Day at PNC Park. The victory, made possible by 7 1/3 scoreless innings from former Red Ron Villone, makes the Pirates 5-1. It's the first time they have started so well since 1983.

        “Elmer pitched one hell of a game,” LaRue said. “He was throwing all his pitches for strikes. He was keeping the ball down. When you do that, more times than not you're going to win. Unfortunately for Elmer, the other guy was just as good. Villone pitched a hell of a game, too.”

        Dessens' outing was particularly encouraging because he had a so-so spring and was bad in his first start (3 2/3 innings, five hits, four walks, four runs).

        Dessens' first start was on Wednesday. Thursday, Dessens and pitching coach Don Gullett discovered a flaw in Dessens' mechanics. They corrected it in a bullpen session on Friday.

        “He was excellent,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “The (adjustment) made him much more accurate with his pitches.”

Sean Casey can't stop Brian Giles's double down the first base line. | ZOOM |

        The Reds are supposed to be a team without the kind of starting pitching to compete. But that hasn't been the case lately. In the last three starts, Chris Reitsma, Joey Hamilton and Dessens have combined for 19 innings and only three runs. That's a 1.42 ERA, which should win in any league.

        But none of the three has gotten a victory and the Reds have lost two of the three games. Saturday and Sunday, the bullpen failed Reitsma and Hamilton.

        Monday, it was a lack of offense. Part of that was Villone. Villone, a 32-year-old left-hander, came to camp as a non-roster invitee for the Pirates and ended up their Opening Day starter.

        He lost to Al Leiter and the New York Mets 6-2 April 1. That made him 2-7 with 6.79 ERA over his last 11 starts.

Ron Villone was murder against his former teammates. | ZOOM |

        But when he's on, Villone can be tough. He struck out 16 for the Reds in a game in 2000. They traded him after that season to Colorado for two minor league pitchers.

        “He never throws anything straight,” Sean Casey said. “He throws a cutter, a sinker. His ball has late movement in the (strike) zone.”

        The Reds had two big chances off Villone: Aaron Boone tripled with one out in the second. But Adam Dunn popped to third and LaRue flied out to left. “I should have gotten that run in,” Dunn said. “I have to get that run in.”

        In the fourth, Casey singled and Boone walked to make it first and second with one out. Dunn bounced to third, forcing Casey, and LaRue flied out.

        For the game, the Reds were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. For the season, they are 15-72 (.208) with runners in scoring position.

        “We had a chance to score and we didn't,” Bob Boone said. “We gave away a run with the balk. That's baseball. We play again Wednesday.”

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