The Reds are having fun again, something they rarely did at Cinergy Field last season, when the team lost a club-record 54 home games and won only 27. Reds second baseman Todd Walker said after the Reds' dramatic come-from-behind victory Friday night that one of the reasons the Reds were playing well was their togetherness. The team is mostly healthy, except for the absence of Ken Griffey Jr., and the players enjoy one another's company.

        “It might sound sort of strange,” Walker said, “but some of our chemistry comes from the fact that a lot of the guys in this room are the same age. Aaron (Boone) and I played against each other in college; Sean (Casey) and I are the same age. Everybody enjoys being around everybody else. I've been on other teams where that hasn't been the case.”

Adam Dunn slaps hands with third-base coach Tim Foli after his two-run homer. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        BASES IN TOYLAND: Well, almost everybody's the same age. There are two babes in the regular lineup these days: 22-year-old Adam Dunn and 21-year-old Austin Kearns.

        Both are members of the Reds' draft class of 1998.

        Although Dunn hasn't been clobbering the ball, he has been helping the club by finding a way to get on base and getting some key hits. Friday, he had a huge at-bat against tough Giants setup man Felix Rodriguez, fouling off pitch after pitch before hitting a broken-bat looper to right field in the two-out, eighth-inning rally that put the Reds ahead to stay. Saturday, he hit a big, two-run homer deep to right-center (his second of the year) in the third inning to put Rijo and the Reds up 5-0.

        Kearns was 2-for-2, blasting a double off the center-field wall and a sharp single inside the right-field foul line, the latter another piece of good hitting that is fast becoming standard for him.

Jeff Kent laughs as he tags out Dunn in a rundown. | ZOOM |

        Kearns drew some humor from his ball off the wall.

        “I thought I hit that ball better than that,” Kearns said. “He almost caught it out there. I thought it was going to hit higher off the wall. I don't know. I need to lift some weights, I guess.”

        Both Kearns and Dunn also reached base on walks Saturday. Their fine eyes at the plate have a lot to do with their success. In his 34 big-league at-bats, Kearns has reached base 17 times (.500). Together, he and Dunn have a .473 on-base percentage.

        YOUNG AND OLD: Though it won't make Methuselah (aka Jose Rijo) feel any younger, consider this exchange between Kearns and a member of the media after Saturday's game.

        Media member: “How old were you when Rijo first pitched for the Reds?”

        Kearns: “When was that?”

        “1987.”

        “Let's see. I was 7 years old. I was in the second grade, I guess, or whatever grade it is you're in when you're 7 years old.”

        CARTOON HARPOON: Speaking of age, Rijo had some choice words for the Enquirer's Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Jim Borgman, who Friday morning had a cartoon in the paper of Rijo walking away from the water cooler in the Reds dugout and dropping a cup behind him. The cooler was labeled “Fountain of Youth.” (See the cartoon). It was the ultimate compliment, which is the way Rijo took it. But, of course, he had to inject some baseball invective to convey his attitude about it.

        “Who wrote that cartoon thing?” Rijo asked. “He needs to learn to draw a little bit better. He drew my (rear end) about 25 paces wide. I said: "That doesn't look like Rijo. That might be me 10 years from now, but it isn't me now!' Tell him it was awesome, but (forget) him.”

        Rijo's face then broke into a grin even wider than his caricatured posterior.

        “I love it here,” he said. “I'd like to pitch here forever.”

Rijo, Reds win again Reds box, runs Rijo's return 'a miracle,' but so is rest of his story SULLIVAN: Rijo enjoying it while arm lasts DAUGHERTY: Rijo keeps 'em guessing Reds Notebook: Chemistry, fun abound Reds swing well in rain Reds Minor League Report Reds Q&A with John Fay Reds Chatter Boston's Lowe gets season's first no-hitter Mariners 1, Yankees 0 Angels 11, Blue Jays 4 Rangers 4, Indians 2

Bengals' Jones took unusual path to NFL
Munoz takes back seat to Jones
Bengals Q&A with Mark Curnutte
Guidugli finds his touch in spring game
Different paths led to UC track
Just how big is the Flying Pig?
Where the Flying Pig ranks
Derby should have full field
Defense rules OSU spring game
Enquirer power rankings
Thorpe tops list of Kroger commitments
Coming up this week
High School Insider
St. Xavier wins tennis classic
Cincinnati high school results
N.Ky. high school results

• Return to Reds front page...