By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Wednesday night's 4-2 Reds victory didn't come close to Monday's or Tuesday's wins as far as dramatic endings go. But the victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before a crowd of 20,849 at Great American Ball Park may be the surest sign yet that there is hope for these Reds.

Why? Because of the way Danny Graves pitched.

Graves not only became the first Reds starter to win back-to-back starts, he became the first Reds starter with two wins - period.

"It's amazing what you can do with good starting pitching," third baseman Aaron Boone said. " 'Gravy' was outstanding tonight."

Graves (2-2) went a career-high 7 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and three walks. He struck out one and threw only 89 pitches.

When he left in the eighth with runners at first and third - a very scary threat - the crowd showed its appreciation with a long, loud standing ovation.

"I almost cried," Graves said. "I got chills. I finally took my hat off. I had to do something to acknowledge them."

Graves has established career highs for innings in his last three starts, and his ERA has gone from 7.81 to 6.43 to 5.52 in those games.

"I know people were down on us," Graves said. "We know the starting pitching has to be good for us to be good."

The bullpen was great Wednesday. Kent Mercker got one huge out - striking out Jim Edmonds with the tying runs on base - and Scott Williamson pitched the ninth for his seventh save.

"But you've got to get it in the front end (from the starters)," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "That's where it all happens."

The Reds' most recent starters - Graves, John Riedling and Jeff Austin - have limited the Cards to five earned runs in 17 1/3 innings in this series.

The Reds' offense, as usual, came mostly from the home run. Aaron Boone's seventh of the season, a solo shot, and Adam Dunn's 10th, a two-runner, were the big blows.

But pitching won this one. The much-maligned switch of Graves from closer to starter suddenly is looking like a very smart move.

And the Reds suddenly are looking like contenders. The victory was their third straight over the Cardinals, who came to town on a seven-game winning streak. The Reds are two games under .500 (16-18) for the first time this season.

The Chicago Cubs lead the National League Central, with St. Louis one game back. The Reds trail the Cubs by three games and can pull one game behind the second-place Cardinals, the preseason favorites to win the division, with a victory today.

The Reds have won six of their last eight games, and Wednesday's win assured them of their fourth series win in the last five.

"We're getting better," Aaron Boone said. "We've got to keep it going."

Graves allowed a walk in the first inning and a single in the second but otherwise was a groundball machine. Ten of the Cardinals' first 12 outs came on groundouts.

The Reds, meanwhile, settled into the usual mode at the plate: a little power, a few hits and a lot of strikeouts. St. Louis starter Jason Simontacchi reached his career high in strikeouts (eight) by the fifth inning.

St. Louis	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Vina 2b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.219
Marrero rf	2	0	0	0	1	0	.200
JDrew ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Crudale p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Fassero p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Pujols lf	3	0	0	0	1	0	.358
Edmonds cf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.364
Rolen 3b	4	2	3	1	0	0	.282
TMartinez 1b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.305
Renteria ss	3	0	2	1	1	0	.359
Matheny c	4	0	0	0	0	0	.291
Simontacchi p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.071
Eldred p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
OPalmeiro ph-rf	0	0	0	0	1	0	.257
Totals	31	2	6	2	4	2

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
FLopez ss	3	0	0	0	1	1	.232
JGuillen rf	4	0	0	0	0	3	.321
Casey 1b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.290
Kearns cf	4	0	1	0	0	2	.293
ABoone 3b	2	3	1	1	1	0	.274
Dunn lf	3	1	2	2	0	1	.234
LaRue c	3	0	1	1	0	1	.220
JCastro 2b	3	0	0	0	0	2	.288
Graves p	3	0	0	0	0	0	.125
Mercker p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Williamson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	29	4	5	4	2	11

St. Louis	000	010	100	-2	6	1
Cincinnati	010	102	00x	-4	5	0

E-Simontacchi (1). LOB-St. Louis 6, Cincinnati 4. 2B-Rolen (12). HR-Dunn (10), off Simontacchi; Rolen (7), off Graves; ABoone (7), off Simontacchi. RBIs-Rolen (26), Renteria (30), ABoone (21), Dunn 2 (21), LaRue (11). GIDP-TMartinez, Renteria. DP-Cincinnati 2.

St. Louis	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Simontacchi L, 1-2	6	4	4	3	2	9	107	5.85
Eldred	1	0	0	0	0	1	14	4.26
Crudale	2/3	1	0	0	0	1	13	0.00
Fassero	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	3	7.84

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Graves W, 2-2	7 2/3	5	2	2	3	1	89	5.53
Mercker H, 4	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	6	1.69
Williamson S, 7	1	1	0	0	1	0	17	1.98

Umpires-Home, Jeff Nelson; First, Dan Iassogna; Second, Alfonso Marquez; Third, Tim Tschida.

T-2:35. A-20,849 (42,263).