Jose Guillen is congratulated by third base coach Tim Foli after hitting a home run in the second inning. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        MILWAUKEE — Jose Guillen isn't used to seeing anyone running on him. But maybe the old scouting reports didn't get to the Milwaukee Brewers for this series.

        Because in the sixth inning, Ryan Christenson tested Guillen's arm and lost.

        Guillen's throw from right field to third base was a bucket of cold water on the Brewers' rally and one of the keys to Reds' 5-4 victory Sunday.

        “He has an absolute cannon,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “That's as good as Roberto Clemente.”

        Clemente, of course, is the right fielder by which all others are measured. Guillen, who won the Pirates' right field job as a 20-year-old, was once considered the next great Pittsburgh right fielder. That hasn't happened — yet.

        The Pirates gave up on him and traded him away. The bottom hit this year when the Arizona Diamondbacks essentially let him go.

Reds centerfielder Reggie Taylor bobbles a ball by Brewers' Keith Ginter, as shortstop Barry Larkin watches. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        But Guillen's brief stint with the Reds has gotten him back on the baseball radar.

        He also hit a home run Sunday and scored another run.

        “I just wanted an opportunity,” Guillen said. “I wasn't getting that in Arizona. I was only playing against lefties. That makes it hard.”

        With the injuries to Ken Griffey Jr.and Austin Kearns, Guillen is playing every day for the Reds and probably will for the rest of the year.

        “He's given us very professional at-bats,” Boone said. “He's been impressive.”

        Guillen is hitting .273 with a homer and four RBI in his 11 games with the Reds. He's shown a knack for getting the small things done. He drove in two runs on groundouts the other night.

        Guillen, 26, is a player Reds general manager Jim Bowden had long coveted.

        “His value finally dropped enough that we could get him,” Boone said.

        Whether the Reds keep Guillen or not is one of their many unanswered offseason questions.

        “(Bowden's) got me,” Guillen said. “Now it's all up to him.”

Jimmy Haynes picked up his 14th win. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        With Adam Dunn, Griffey and Kearns entrenched in the three outfield spots, Guillen would have to be willing to come back as an extra player. That's not his first choice.

        “The scouts can see me,” Guillen said. “They can see I can still play every day.”

        A throw like Sunday's shows his skills are still there.

        “I was yelling, "No,”' Boone said. “I didn't think he had a play. I knew he had a good arm. I didn't know he had a laser. If there's a better arm, it's a tie.”

        That might not be grammatically possible. Because a better arm would be, well, better. But you get the point.

        The victory gave the Reds the series — the first they have won since sweeping the San Diego Padres on Aug.9-11. The Reds lost six series and split one in the interim.

        Reds right-hander Jimmy Haynes pitched around trouble for 5 1/3 innings to push his record to 14-9. Haynes allowed two runs on eight hits, walking four and striking out four.

        “It was pretty much a battle all day,” Haynes said. “But I was able to make pitches when I had to.”

        The Reds took the lead in the third on Guillen's solo homer, then made it 3-0 in the sixth on Reggie Taylor's sacrifice fly and Kelly Stinnett's RBI double. The Brewers pulled to 3-2 in their half of the sixth, but Guillen's throw help squelch a potentially bigger rally.

        Todd Walker's two-run homer in the ninth proved to be the game-winner because the Brewers scored a pair of runs off Danny Graves in the bottom half.

        It was, in fact, first and third with one out when Graves got a double-play ball to end it and earn his 32nd save.

Reds 5, Brewers 4 Reds Box, Runs Reitsma's future uncertain after ouster from rotation Reds-Pirates series preview Astros 6, Dodgers 2 Cardinals 3, Cubs 1 Marlins 11, Pirates 1 Liner decks Dodgers' Ishii

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