Enquirer staff and wire services

SARASOTA, Fla. - Adam Dunn and Kelly Stinnett homered Thursday to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Aramis Ramirez homered twice for Pittsburgh, and Rob Mackowiak also went deep. Brian Giles was 0-for-3.

Ken Griffey Jr., Austin Kearns, Sean Casey and Dernell Stenson each added a double as the Reds got 12 hits. Griffey scored twice and drove in a run. Casey had two RBIs.

Cincinnati shortstop Barry Larkin, hit on the right elbow by a pitch Tuesday, was scratched from the starting lineup because the elbow was still sore. The Reds said team physician Timothy Kremchek examined Larkin and found nothing more than bruises. Larkin is expected to play Friday.

Cincinnati starter Jose Acevedo, competing with Pete Harnisch, Chris Reitsma and Seth Etherton for one available spot in the rotation, gave up four runs - three earned - and six hits in 3 1-3 innings.

Harnisch is back with the Reds to try a comeback after missing most of last season, when he underwent elbow surgery to replace a ligament.

The arms: Jose Acevedo did not fare as well in his second outing as he did in his first. He couldn't hold a 4-1 lead and was lifted in the third inning after giving up three runs on two home runs. John Riedling pitched a perfect ninth to get the save.

The bats: Adam Dunn hit his second home run of the spring - a two-run shot to left field - and was 2-for-3 on the day. ... Kelly Stinnett also homered. ... Sean Casey's first hit of the spring was a two-run double. ... Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-2 with an RBI double, raising his average to .308.

The rest: Ranier Olmedo turned a spectacular double play in the seventh. He bare-handed a grounder up the middle and flipped quickly to second baseman Gookie Dawkins, who threw to first for the double play.

Up next: The Reds play a split-squad doubleheader with the Pirates. Seth Etherton will make his first start in the 1:05 p.m. game at Bradenton, Fla. Former Pirate Jimmy Anderson will start the 7:05 p.m. night game in Sarasota, Fla.

PITTSBURGH					CINCINNATI
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Kendall c	3	0	1	0	Lopez ss	3	1	1	0
CWilson c	2	0	0	0	Mateo rf	1	0	0	0
Nunez ss	5	1	2	0	Boone 2b	3	0	0	0
Giles cf	3	0	0	0	CMiller ph-c	0	0	0	0
Redman cf	2	0	1	0	Griffey cf	2	2	1	1
Ramirez 3b	4	2	2	2	Guillen lf	1	0	0	0
Holbert 3b	0	0	0	0	Kearns rf	2	1	1	1
Simon 1b	4	0	1	1	Stenson 1b	1	0	1	0
Rivera pr-1b	0	0	0	0	Dunn lf	3	2	2	2
Stairs rf	4	2	2	0	Olmedo ss	1	0	0	0
Davis rf	0	0	0	0	Casey 1b	3	0	1	2
Mackowiak lf	4	1	2	2	Hall p	0	0	0	0
Doster 2b	4	0	1	1	Dransfelds ph-3b	1	0	1	0
Arrojo p	1	0	0	0	Guerrero 3b	4	0	0	0
Doumit ph	1	0	0	0	TMiller p	0	0	0	0
Storres	1	0	0	0	Riedling p	0	0	0	0
Sauerbeck p	0	0	0	0	Stinnett c	3	1	1	1
JFernandez ph	1	0	0	0	Dawkins 2b	1	0	0	0
Herges p	0	0	0	0	Acevedo p	1	0	1	0
					Ofern. p	1	0	0	0
					Taylor cf	2	0	0	0
Totals	39	6	12	6	Totals	33	7	10	7

Pittsburgh	010	310	010-6
Cincinnati	202	120	00x-7

E-Lopez, Boone, Mateo. DP-Pittsburgh 1, Cincinnati 2. LOB-Pittsburgh 6, Cincinnati 6. 2B-Griffey, Kearns, Stairs 2, Stenson. HRs-Stinnett (1), Ramirez 2 (3), Dunn (2), Mackowiak (1). SB-Lopez. CS-Nunez.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Pittsburgh
Arrojo	3	5	4	4	1	2
STorres L,0-1	3	3	3	3	0	1
Sauerbeck	1	2	0	0	0	0
Herges	1	0	0	0	0	2
Cincinnati
Acevedo	3 1-3	6	4	3	0	0
OFernandez W,1-0	1 2-3	2	1	1	0	1
Hall	2	3	1	1	0	0
TMiller	1	1	0	0	0	0
Riedling	1	0	0	0	0	1

HBP-by STorres (Kearns, Mateo, CMiller). PB-Kendall.

T-2:34. A-3,826.