Russell Branyan follows through on one of his three home runs Sunday. DESKTOP WALLPAPER To use this photo as desktop wallpaper for your computer (for free!) simply click on the thumbnail above. After the full-sized photo loads, right-click on it and select Set As Background from the pop-up menu. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        SAN DIEGO - Many, many things happened in the Reds' 15-10 victory over the San Diego Padres Sunday.

        But this is the only one that really matters:

        For the second time in four days, the Reds came back from the dead to win the rubber game of a series and thereby do wonders for themselves in the pennant race.

        Sunday's victory was as odd as Thursday's 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers (all that was missing was the ejection fireworks from Eric Gagne).

        Both games were classic cases of the Reds winning games that all logic said had no chance to win. That is very large in a stretch drive.

        “No doubt,” said second baseman Todd Walker. “There are at least two games we've lost that way - — the one to St. Louis and the one last week in New York — but we've won more than we've lost. That's how championships are won. This team never, ever gives up.”

        That is the essence of why the Reds won Sunday. Consider:

Reds catcher Jason LaRue bobbles the ball as Phil Nevin slides in safely during the fifth inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        • The Reds trailed 5-2 and 10-5.

        • They overcame an atrocious start — 10 runs, 10 hits in four innings — - by Ryan Dempster.

        • They got their first three-homer game in three years as Russell Branyan hit three monster shots. He missed a fourth on a ball that was five or six feet foul.

        • They set season-highs for runs (15), hits (17) and home runs (5).

        • They got five innings of scoreless relief from five relievers.

        • They beat Trevor Hoffman, one of the best closers in the game, lighting him up for four runs in one-third of an inning.

        • They botched a suicide squeeze in the ninth that could have easily cost the Reds the game on a less-charmed day.

        It all meant that the Reds left for Colorado — they're off today — just two games behind St. Louis in the National League.

        The Reds finally sealed the deal in the ninth. Pinch-hitter Brandon Larson got two runs home with a single off Hoffman to make it 12-10. Walker then put it out of reach with a three-run homer to make it 15-10.

Brandon Larson hits the game-winner off Padres closer Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        “The offense was awesome today,” Larson said. “It's fun to watch these guys hit.”

        The hitting stars were Branyan and Walker. Branyan had his first three-home run day as a pro and drove in five runs. Walker was 3-for-6 with two doubles and a home run.

        The Reds actually led 2-0 after Branyan's first homer in the second. But the Padres touched Dempster up for five in their half of the second.

        The Reds took care of that with the long ball — or long balls. Aaron Boone hit a two-run homer in the third, and Branyan hit a solo shot in the fourth.

        Of Branyan's three, the second was the most impressive. It landed well up in the bleachers in right-center.

        “That one felt good,” Branyan said. “I really got it. I was battling. I believe it was a 3-2 pitch.”

        But the comeback was wiped out when the Padres hung another five on Dempster in the fifth. His ERA as a Red is 11.74, and, with the score 10-5, it looked like his record would fall to 1-4.

        The Reds got it to 10-8 on Barry Larkin's RBI single and Walker's two-run, two-out double in the sixth.

        Branyan tied it with a two-run, opposite-field shot in the seventh. Branyan is hitting .392 with six home runs and 13 RBI in his last 13 games.

Todd Walker is greeted by Jason LaRue and Brandon Larson after hitting his 7th homer of the year to close out the scoring. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        “He's getting a chance to play,” Bob Boone said. “He has that kind of power. If he gets some cooperation, he hits them. And once he hits them, they stay hit.”

        Still, it went to the ninth a 10-10 game.

        The Padres showed they wanted to win it by using Hoffman, who converted 27 of 29 saves this year and has the best changeup on earth.

        But Hoffman, who has pitched in seven of the Padres' last nine games, didn't have his usual command.

        With the bases loaded, the Reds tried to pull off the squeeze on the first pitch to Jason LaRue.

        But he missed it and Kearns was out.

        LaRue, however, recovered nicely by working a walk.

        That brought up Larson, who was 3-for-5 as a pinch-hitter coming in. On an 0-2 pitch, “I figured the changeup was coming,” Larson said.

Reds 15, Padres 10 Reds box, runs Riedling pitches with a hot hand Rehab outing for LA's Brown Bonds jacks No. 598 Braves 2, Cardinals 1 Red Sox 11, Rangers 3 Charlotte 11, Louisville 5

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