Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ruben Mateo runs into the right field wall, unable to catch the ball on a double by the Phillies' Marlon Anderson in the third inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        PHILADELPHIA — They say in football that the best defense is a good offense. That doesn't hold true for baseball, where the facets of the game are separate. But the Reds proved a good offense can make up for some bad defense.

        The result was a come-from-behind, 8-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium Friday night.

        The victory was the third straight for the Reds and lifted them to 6-4 overall.

        The Reds fell behind 5-1, thanks to three defensive misplays in the third inning. The five-run inning could have easily been a no-run inning.

        “That's baseball,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “That's part of it. You've got to make it happen with the bats. The team has to pick it up.”

        The Reds did that. They got a run in the sixth. Then in the seventh, they pounded out seven hits, stole two bases and made the Phillies look bad with aggressive base-running on the way to a six-run inning.

        The bullpen, meanwhile, was nearly perfect again. Jose Rijo, Jim Brower, Scott Williamson, Scott Sullivan and Danny Graves combined for 6 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Brower got the victory; Graves earned his fourth save.

        That extended the bullpen's streak of scoreless innings to 16 1/3. The relievers have allowed only six hits in that stretch.

        “The bullpen did a wonderful job,” Barry Larkin said. “They stopped the bleeding and allowed us to come back.”

        Juan Encarnacion made it three home runs in three days with a blast into upper deck in the first inning. It was the 60th home run to reach the upper deck in left field at the Vet.

        Encarnacion has homered in three straight games one other time in his career. He did it May 16, 17 and 18 of last year for Detroit.

        The Phillies took the lead with five runs in the third. Four of the five runs were earned but all were gifts.

        Ruben Mateo misplayed a ball in right, third baseman Aaron Boone made a throwing error and Brady Clark let a ball fall in front of him in left.

        Starter Chris Reitsma didn't make it out of the third. It equaled the shortest outing of his career. He allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits.

        Jose Rijo, pitching for the first time in a week, snuffed the third-inning rally. He ended up going 2 2/3 innings and allowed only one hit.

        “How about Rijo?” Bob Boone said. “That was just what the doctor ordered.”

        The Reds cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth. Larkin hit a shot into the left-center field gap and sped in for a triple. Encarnacion got Larkin home with a sacrifice fly to right.

        Sean Casey followed with a single. That was it for Philadelphia starter Randy Wolf. Wolf was just activated from the disabled list (left elbow tendinitis) and on a pitch count. He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked none and struck out five.

        Wolf picked the perfect team to come back against. He was 2-0 in two starts against the Reds last year. He allowed only one run in 17 2/3 innings in his two starts.

        The Phillie bullpen had no such luck against the Reds. Mateo led off the seventh with an infield single. Wilton Guerrero got him in with a triple. An out later, Jason LaRue bounced a single through the middle to score Guerrero and make it 5-4.

        Adam Dunn followed with a pinch-hit single. Larkin drove LaRue home with a double into the left-field corner.

        Encarnacion then bounced to shortstop Jimmy Rollins. Dunn broke for home. He was out easily. It was the second time in a week that Dunn tried to score from third on a ball he had no chance on.

The ball gets away from Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal as Sean Casey heads for the plate in the seventh inning after a double by Aaron Boone. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The Reds eased the sting of the blunder by continuing the rally with two outs. Larkin stole third, and then Encarnacion stole second with Casey at the plate. That set up Casey for two RBI.

        He delivered them by punching a single into left field. That made it 7-5. Boone got another run home with a double into the right-field corner. Casey, running all the way, tried a score. A halfway decent throw would have gotten him, but catcher Mike Lieberthal couldn't come up with the ball, and the Reds had an 8-5 lead.

        “That's an awful nice win,” Bob Boone said. “It was a team effort. We showed a lot of heart, just about everybody on the team contributed.”

Reds 8, Phillies 5 Reds box, runs Reds notes: Larkin dominates like Larkin of old AL: Tigers still winless NL: Maddux up to old tricks Detroit taps Alou to give Pujols a hand MLB Notes: M's lose Martinez to surgery

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