CINCINNATI — Billy Koch thinks the Oakland Athletics need to move. Not to another city — to another league.

        The A's improved to 12-1 against the National League by dealing the Reds their latest dose of misery Friday night. John Mabry drove in three runs with a single and a homer, and the A's got a 5-3 victory in the stadium where they lost the first two games of the 1990 World Series.

        Oakland is the toughest team to beat in interleague play, going 62-37 overall. The A's have won 20 of their last 22 against the NL.

        Imagine what they could do if they played there all the time.

        “I think we need to go to the National League,” said Koch, who has saved the last five games, a franchise record. “Pick a division, it doesn't matter.”

        The Reds are glad they're not in the NL Central, where they're having a hard enough time keeping up with St. Louis.

        Manager Bob Boone shook up the lineup Friday, benching third baseman Aaron Boone, first baseman Sean Casey and right fielder Austin Kearns. New cast, same outcome.

        “It's a game of feel, and when you don't feel it, boy, it's tough,” Bob Boone said. “You hate to see so many guys go into it at once. That's very unusual. Nobody's feeling comfortable standing in the batter's box.”

        By contrast, every move is coming up a winner for the A's.

        Manager Art Howe added Mabry to the lineup when he learned that Gabe White, the only left-hander in Cincinnati's bullpen, had been hospitalized with an infected hand.

        Mabry led Oakland to its fifth straight win and its 13th in 14 games. The streak has pulled them back into contention in the AL West and moved them a season-high 10 games over .500.

        “Awesome,” Mabry summed up. “It's just phenomenal to watch.”

        The Reds' offense is painful to watch these days. Ken Griffey Jr. was back in center field on Friday and got a double in four at-bats, but it made no difference.

        “Everything seems to go wrong,” said Jimmy Haynes, who went six innings on a 91-degree night. “That's just what happens when you get into a funk. Now we're in a pretty big one.”

        Aaron Harang (3-2) also went six innings, giving up five hits and two runs. Scott Williamson (2-1) let in the A's go-ahead run with a wild pitch in the seventh, and Mabry homered off Scott Sullivan in the eighth in a ballpark that was the setting for one of the most disappointing moments in franchise history.

        In 1990, the Bash Brothers — Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco — led the Athletics to the World Series. The Reds won the first two games against their heavily favored opponent at Riverfront Stadium, then went on to complete a sweep in Oakland.

        There were only two holdovers Friday. Reds shortstop Barry Larkin went 0-for-4, ending his hitting streak at 13 games, and right-hander Jose Rijo watched from the bench. Rijo, who was MVP of the 1990 Series, is on the disabled list with a weak shoulder.

        Notes: Oakland was missing Jermaine Dye, one of its hottest hitters. The outfielder was on the bench as a precaution with a tight hamstring. ... The Athletics also played in Cincinnati during the 1972 World Series, which they won in seven games. ... Two other A's saved four consecutive games — Dennis Eckersley in 1993 and Jason Isringhausen in 2000. ... A's 2B Mark Ellis committed a throwing error and went 0-for-4, ending an eight-game hitting streak. ... The Reds sold 26,101 tickets for the game and a Village People concert immediately afterward.

A's 5, Reds 3 Reds box, runs Reds might give Larson a look Athletics might as well move to NL Infected hand puts Reds' White in hospital Cubs 2, Cardinals 1 Castillo extends hit streak to 35 games Interleague roundup Notes from Friday's games

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