By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

MIAMI - Batting Adam Dunn leadoff got the attention, but a move way down the order was the one that paid off for the Reds Sunday.

Rainer Olmedo, making his second big league start, went 3-for-5 and scored two runs in the Reds' 9-6 victory over the Florida Marlins before 12,236 Sunday at Pro Player Stadium.

Olmedo, 21, a Venezuelan, probably didn't unseat Felipe Lopez as the shortstop of the future with one good game. Reds manager Bob Boone wouldn't even commit to another start for Olmedo.

"I don't know," Boone said. "I do know I was pleased with the way he played. Really pleased."

Boone was displeased enough with Lopez, who is hitting .219 and leads the majors in errors, to bench him Sunday in favor of Olmedo.

"We tried to shake things up," Boone said. "The offense hasn't been too stellar the last two weeks. We're trying to get something going."

It worked. The offense cranked out more runs than it has in 10 days. Olmedo had hits his first two times up to start run-scoring innings.

The victory was a nice ending to the six-game road trip.

"That was a big win for us," Sean Casey said. "We split the road trip 3-3. To get a win on get-away day is huge."

As is the case nearly all the time with the Reds, there were some anxious moments in a game that should have been a blowout.

The Reds led 9-0 after 3 1/2 innings, then 1 1/2 innings later saw the Marlins within striking distance.

But 4 1/3 scoreless innings from the bullpen preserved the win.

The Reds got on the board in the first, thanks to Casey's sixth home run of the year - a 408-foot shot to straightaway right.

The little men in the order - Olmedo and Juan Castro - made it 2-0 in the second with back-to-back doubles.

For Olmedo, it was the first hit of his big league career.

Olmedo started the big rally in the fourth with a single.

Going 0-for-5 in his first stint with the Reds weighed on Olmedo's mind.

"I thought about that for a few days," Olmedo said.

Upon his return, hitting coach Tom Robson told him his swing is too long, to choke up and not to pull the ball.

"He has to be the kind of hitter (Florida's Juan) Pierre and (Luis) Castillo are," Robson said. "He's got speed, he plays good defense. He can do some things."

Castro followed Olmedo's second hit with his second straight double. Reds starting pitcher John Riedling drove Olmedo in with a single.

After Dunn walked, Casey lined one in the right-center gap that hopped into the stands for a two-run, ground-rule double to make it 5-0.

It gave Casey four RBI in his last two games. That's more than he had in his previous 18.

"I've been swinging well," Casey said. "But I've been hitting it right at people. That's the nature of the beast."

The Marlins walked Ken Griffey Jr. intentionally to load the bases. Austin Kearns followed with a two-run single. Russell Branyan followed with a two-run double. That made it 9-0. A laugher, right?

Boone thought so, and pulled Griffey for Wily Mo Pena after the inning. But it was far from over.

Riedling gave up two runs in the fourth. He couldn't even get out of the fifth, giving up four runs, when Scott Sullivan came on and got the final out.

Riedling, who lives in nearby Wellington and left 35 tickets for friends and family, went 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits.

"It's just unfortunate I couldn't get one more out for the win."

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Dunn lf	4	1	0	0	1	1	.213
Casey 1b	3	2	3	3	2	0	.298
Griffey Jr. cf	2	1	0	0	1	1	.271
WPena rf	1	0	0	0	0	0	.107
d-ABoone ph-3b	1	0	0	0	0	0	.255
Kearns rf-cf	4	1	2	2	1	0	.294
Branyan 3b	4	0	1	2	0	2	.167
Reitsma p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.125
Williamson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Stinnett c	5	0	0	0	0	1	.286
Olmedo ss	5	2	3	0	0	0	.300
JCastro 2b	4	1	3	1	1	0	.257
Riedling p	3	1	1	1	0	2	.250
Sullivan p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
c-JGuillen ph-rf	2	0	0	0	0	1	.336
Totals	39	9	13	9	6	9

Florida	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Pierre cf	5	0	2	0	0	0	.300
LCastillo 2b	4	1	0	0	1	0	.318
IRodriguez c	5	2	2	0	0	1	.252
DeLee 1b	5	0	1	0	0	2	.249
Hollandsworth lf	3	2	0	1	1	0	.290
JEncarnacion rf	4	1	2	2	0	0	.290
AGonzalez ss	4	0	3	3	0	1	.333
AFox 3b	3	0	0	0	1	0	.240
Pavano p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.087
Tejera p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.083
BBanks ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.222
Levrault p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Redmond ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.217
Phelps p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167
CAllen ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Almanza p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	37	6	10	6	3	5

Cincinnati	110	700	000	-9	13	2
Florida	000	240	000	-6	10	0

E-WPena (1), Olmedo (1). LOB-Cincinnati 9, Florida 7. 2B-Casey (8), Branyan (1), Olmedo (1), JCastro 2 (4), JEncarnacion (12). 3B-JCastro (1). HR-Casey (6), off Pavano. RBIs-Casey 3 (26), Kearns 2 (49), Branyan 2 (2), JCastro (8), Riedling (2), Hollandsworth (12), JEncarnacion 2 (31), AGonzalez 3 (37). SB-Pierre (23). GIDP-JEncarnacion.

Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 4 (Dunn, Branyan, Olmedo, Riedling); Florida 4 (DeLee, BBanks 2, Redmond).

DP-Cincinnati 1 (JCastro, Olmedo and Casey); Florida 1 (LCastillo and DeLee).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Riedling	4 2/3	9	6	6	2	3	88	5.32
Sullivan W, 6-0	1 1/3	0	0	0	1	0	17	4.60
Reitsma H, 1	2	1	0	0	0	1	18	6.83
Williamson S, 13	1	0	0	0	0	1	18	3.52

Florida	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Pavano L, 4-6	3 1/3	9	9	9	3	4	79	4.54
Tejera	2/3	1	0	0	0	0	9	5.64
Levrault	1	1	0	0	1	1	21	1.10
Phelps	3	1	0	0	2	2	51	1.76
Almanza	1	1	0	0	0	2	17	5.34

Inherited runners-scored-Sullivan 1-0, Tejera 2-2.

IBB-off Levrault (Casey) 1, off Pavano (Griffey Jr.) 1. HBP-by Phelps (Dunn). WP-Riedling. Balk-Almanza.

T-3:11. A-12,236 (36,331).