Right after Sean Casey was hit by a pitch from the Giants' Felix Rodriguez in the eighth inning of the Reds' 5-4 loss Sunday, Adam Dunn did what you're supposed to do — if you're good enough.

        He hit a two-run home run off Rodriguez to cut the Reds' deficit to 4-3. It was an opposite-field shot over the left-field wall.

        The Giants built the lead to 5-3 on an RBI single by Jeff Kent off Scott Sullivan, who had started off the inning well (strikeout of Marvin Benard), but then unintentionally hit David Bell with a pitch, made a wild pickoff throw, and struck out Rich Aurilia.

        Dunn closed it to 5-4 with a homer to deep right center in the ninth. It was his fourth homer. Even though he went into Sunday's game hitting .271 (19-for-70), it wasn't a Dunn-like .271 (he had only three extra-base hits). But he was getting on base (.414).

        “I don't know if I'm feeling that much better, but I'm getting some good pitches and finally doing something with them instead of fouling them back,” Dunn said. “I never really pushed the panic button. But, I got frustrated.”

        KILLER KEARNS: Dunn's buddy Austin Kearns got two more hits and a walk Sunday to raise his average to .400 and his on-base percentage to . .526. In the sixth inning, he turned hard on a pitch from Tim Worrell, but a wind gusting in from left field kept it in the park.

        “I don't know how that ball stayed in,” Dunn said. “I guess the baseball gods were letting him know, "You're getting too many hits right now. Slow down.' He crushed that ball.”

        Paper products from the concession stands were swirling about in the air and on the grass.

        “I thought the wind was blowing dead in (from left field),” said Dunn, the left fielder. “My shirt was blowing every which way. But then a couple of balls were hit and carried, and a couple sliced down the line. So, you got me.”

        Kearns is a joy to watch at the plate. He can hit to all fields, and yet he also has excellent power. Most impressively, though, fans have come to expect he won't swing at bad pitches, because that's what he's shown so far — even though he's had only 36 big-league plate appearances.

        “I've said it a thousand times: The guy's unbelieveable,” Dunn said. “I've played with him for three or four years now and nothing he does surprises me ... He doesn't get rattled. He knows how to hit. He plays good defense. He's just, uh, good!”

        GRIFFEY UPDATE: The grass at Cinergy was too wet for Ken Griffey Jr. to test his right knee Sunday, so the Reds will wait until he can run before updating when he might return to the lineup.

        Griffey, out since April 8 with a torn patella tendon in his right knee, will not travel with the team on the West Coast trip. He'll continue rehabilitation exercises in Cincinnati instead.

        Medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek said last week he's sticking to original projection, that Griffey would miss three to six weeks, but thinks it'll be closer to three than six.

        The Reds return home for a week starting May 6 vs. Milwaukee. That would be exactly four weeks since Griffey's injury.

        DUNN'S TAKE: Dunn, on the Sean Casey beaning that cleared the benches: “He (Casey) is tired of getting thrown up and in. That (helmet slam and yelling) was just his way of letting 'em know that he's not going to take it. If I got hit in the head twice, I'm doing the same thing.”

        RIJO WEIGHS IN: The Reds' resident sage, comeback kid Jose Rijo, said: “They (the powers-that-be in baseball) are changing the game too much, being too protective of the hitter. They're making it easy for the hitters, and forgetting about the pitcher. They want it more exciting for the fans, so they favor the hitters.”

Giants 5, Reds 4 Reds box, runs DAUGHERTY: In Bud we trust Casey hot over Giants' purpose pitch Reds notes: Dunn defies winds with 2 home runs A wonderful weekend for pitchers Shades of Fernandomania for Dodgers Yankees win two of three from Mariners Baseball notes: Chipper questionable with sprained thumb

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