The Associated Press

Juan Castro, right, forces out Randall Simon while turning a double play in the fourth inning of the Reds' 7-5 loss today. (AP Photo/Mike Simons)

Bad starting pitching and errors - the Reds' most painful weaknesses in this painful season - did them in again Thursday afternoon.

Jimmy Haynes put them in a quick 3-0 hole and Aaron Boone's throwing error at shortstop in the 11th inning set up the winning rally that enabled the Pittsburgh Pirates to take a 7-5 victory and a two-game sweep.

The Reds' rotation has the NL's worst earned run average at 6.30, and the defense leads the majors with 97 errors in 101 games.

"I think it's apparent that we've got a lot of issues on this team," Boone said. "We just give up too many runs. As much as people blame the pitching, we don't catch the ball too well, either. Good teams make plays - run down balls, close up holes - and we don't."

Boone's error set up the winning rally off Chris Reitsma (7-3). Matt Stairs had an RBI double and Jose Hernandez had a sacrifice fly off Ryan Wagner to make it 7-5.

The Reds have played themselves out of contention since the All-Star break, going 1-7 on a homestand to fall a season-high 13 games under .500.

The Pirates, on the other hand, have gone 4-1 in the last five days while trading away their top two relievers and two regulars in three separate deals.

The Pirates opened Great American with a three-game sweep from March 31-April 3. They're 5-0 at the ballpark, the first time they've won five consecutive games in Cincinnati since 1991.

The Pirates had to overcome shoddy defense of their own. In the eighth, Stairs dove for Boone's sinking liner in right field with two outs and let it get past him for an RBI triple that tied it 5-5.

Mike Lincoln (1-0) pitched the last two innings to get the victory, one day after he saved the series opener.

Pirates right-hander Jeff D'Amico blew two leads during his six innings, but turned a 5-4 lead over to the bullpen. He gave up four runs - only one earned - and had an RBI double as well.

Pittsburgh went ahead 3-0 as Brian Giles hit a sacrifice fly in the first, Stairs doubled home a run in the third and D'Amico had an RBI double in the fourth off Haynes, who lost the season opener against Pittsburgh and has only two wins.

The Pirates' shaky defense let the lead slip away. Hernandez, acquired in a trade with the Cubs, threw away Jose Guillen's grounder to third for an error that opened the Reds fourth.

With the bases loaded, Jason LaRue hit a popup into shallow left, and shortstop Jack Wilson and left fielder Reggie Sanders both called for the ball. Neither one backed off, and Wilson was knocked to the ground after he made the catch, allowing Guillen to tag up and score easily.

Juan Castro's sacrifice fly and Haynes' RBI single completed the rally and tied it 3-3.

Giles doubled home another run in the fifth, but D'Amico gave up Russell Branyan's fourth homer to start the bottom of the inning. Haynes' wild pitch let Jeff Reboulet score from third to put the Pirates ahead 5-4 in the sixth.

Notes: SS Barry Larkin was out of the Reds lineup. He left Wednesday night's game with cramps in his right hamstring. He pinch-hit and grounded out, then went to the bench. ... RHP Brandon Lyon, acquired from Boston in the trade for Scott Sauerbeck, remained in Pittsburgh on Thursday for more medical tests. Littlefield declined to specify the Pirates' concerns.

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Totals	41	7	10	6	8	8
Kendall c	4	1	0	0	2	0	.307
JWilson ss	3	1	2	0	0	1	.244
ANunez ss	3	1	1	0	0	1	.223
BGiles cf-lf	4	2	1	2	1	0	.302
Stairs rf	4	0	2	2	2	1	.299
Hyzdu cf	0	0	0	0	0	0	.189
RSanders lf-rf	6	0	0	0	0	1	.251
Simon 1b	3	0	1	0	1	0	.277
1-Rivera pr-1b	1	0	0	0	1	1	.188
JHernandez 3b	4	0	1	1	1	2	.228
Reboulet 2b	5	2	1	0	0	0	.261
D'Amico p	2	0	1	1	0	0	.156
Beimel p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-CWilson ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.248
Boehringer p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Meadows p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
e-Cota ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Lincoln p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Totals	38	5	9	5	5	4
DJimenez 2b	6	0	1	0	0	2	.339
Branyan 3b	6	1	1	1	0	1	.228
JGuillen rf	5	1	2	0	0	0	.342
Casey 1b	5	1	1	0	0	0	.304
Dunn lf	2	1	0	0	3	1	.204
LaRue c	4	0	0	1	0	0	.233
Taylor cf	3	1	1	0	2	0	.226
Wagner p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JCastro ss	1	0	1	1	0	0	.242
c-ABoone ph-ss	2	0	1	1	0	0	.271
JHaynes p	1	0	1	1	0	0	.286
a-Larson ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.074
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Williamson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
d-Larkin ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.272
Mercker p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Reitsma p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
RMateo cf	1	0	0	0	0	0	.229

Pittsburgh	101	111	000	02	-7	10	1
Cincinnati	000	310	010	00	-5	9	3

a-grounded out for Haynes in the 6th. b-struck out for Beimel in the 8th. c-tripled for Castro in the 8th. d-grounded out for Williamson in the 8th. e-safe on error for Meadows in the 10th.

1-ran for Simon in the 8th.

E-JHernandez (7), Dunn (9), ABoone 2 (16). LOB-Pittsburgh 13, Cincinnati

9. 2B-BGiles (21), Stairs 2 (12), Reboulet (6), D'Amico (1), JGuillen (21). 3B-ABoone (3). HR-Branyan (4), off D'Amico. RBIs-BGiles 2 (52), Stairs 2 (28), JHernandez (38), D'Amico (1), Branyan (11), LaRue (35), JCastro (16), ABoone (63), JHaynes (3). S-Reboulet, D'Amico, JCastro, JHaynes. SF-BGiles, JHernandez, LaRue, JCastro.

Runners left in scoring position-Pittsburgh 8 (Kendall 2, ANunez 2, RSanders, Simon, JHernandez, Reboulet); Cincinnati 6 (DJimenez 2, Branyan, Casey, Taylor, Larkin).

Runners moved up-Reboulet, DJimenez, LaRue.

DP-Pittsburgh 1 (Simon and ANunez).

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
D'Amico	6	7	4	1	3	2	99	3.68
Beimel H, 7	1	0	0	0	0	0	12	3.32
Boehringer BS, 2	1	1	1	1	1	1	24	5.88
Meadows	1	0	0	0	0	1	9	6.21
Lincoln W, 1-0	2	1	0	0	1	0	34	1.26

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
JHaynes	6	6	5	4	4	4	105	5.87
Heredia	1	1	0	0	0	0	15	2.79
Williamson	1	1	0	0	1	2	20	3.35
Mercker	1 2/3	0	0	0	1	2	24	2.81
Reitsma L, 7-3	2/3	2	2	2	2	0	18	4.53
Wagner	2/3	0	0	0	0	0	10	0.00

Heredia pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

Inherited runners-scored-Wagner 3-1, Williamson 1-0, Reitsma 1-0.

IBB-off Reitsma (Rivera) 1, off Reitsma (BGiles) 1, off Williamson (Kendall) 1. WP-JHaynes.

Umpires-Home, Gerry Davis; First, Dan Iassogna; Second, Darren Spagnardi; Third, Mark Carlson.

T-3:42. A-35,504 (42,263).

How the runs scored

Pirates first. Kendall walked. J.Wilson singled to center, Kendall to third. Giles hit a sacrifice fly to left fielder Dunn, Kendall scored. Stairs walked, J.Wilson to second. Sanders flied out to left fielder Dunn. Simon grounded out, second baseman Jimenez to first baseman Casey.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 left on. Pirates 1, Reds 0.

Pirates third. Kendall grounded out, shortstop Castro to first baseman Casey. J.Wilson struck out. Giles safe at second on Dunn's error. Stairs doubled to center, Giles scored. Sanders grounded out, shortstop Castro to first baseman Casey.

1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left on. Pirates 2, Reds 0.

Pirates fourth. Simon walked on a full count. Hernandez struck out. Reboulet grounded into fielder's choice, second baseman Jimenez to shortstop Castro, Simon out. D'Amico doubled to center, Reboulet scored. Kendall grounded out, first baseman Casey unassisted.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Pirates 3, Reds 0.

Reds fourth. Guillen safe on Hernandez's error. Casey singled to center, Guillen to third. Dunn walked on a full count, Casey to second. LaRue hit a sacrifice fly to shortstop J.Wilson, Guillen scored. Taylor singled to center, Casey to third, Dunn to second. Castro hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Giles, Casey scored, Dunn to third. Haynes singled to center, Dunn scored, Taylor to third. Jimenez struck out.

3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 left on. Pirates 3, Reds 3.

Pirates fifth. J.Wilson singled to center. Giles doubled to left, J.Wilson scored. Stairs walked on a full count. Sanders struck out. Simon popped out to shortstop Castro. Hernandez struck out.

1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Pirates 4, Reds 3.

Reds fifth. Branyan homered to center on a 1-2 count. Guillen infield single to third. Nunez in as shortstop. Casey flied out to left fielder Sanders. Dunn walked on four pitches, Guillen to second. LaRue popped into a double play, first baseman Simon to shortstop Nunez, Guillen out.

1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Pirates 4, Reds 4.

Pirates sixth. Reboulet doubled to left. D'Amico sacrificed, catcher LaRue to second baseman Jimenez, Reboulet to third. Kendall grounded out, shortstop Castro to first baseman Casey. On Haynes' wild pitch, Reboulet scored. Nunez was out bunting, third baseman Branyan to first baseman Casey.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Pirates 5, Reds 4.

Reds eighth. Rivera in as first baseman. Boehringer pitching. Dunn struck out. LaRue was out bunting, pitcher Boehringer to first baseman Rivera. Taylor walked on a full count. Boone pinch-hitting for Castro. Boone tripled to right, Taylor scored. Larkin pinch-hitting for Williamson. Larkin grounded out, third baseman Hernandez to first baseman Rivera.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Pirates 5, Reds 5.

Pirates eleventh. Nunez bunt single to short. On Boone's error, Nunez to second. Giles was intentionally walked. Stairs doubled to right, Nunez scored, Giles to third. Sanders grounded out, third baseman Branyan to first baseman Casey. Rivera was intentionally walked. Wagner pitching. Mateo in as center fielder. Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Guillen, Giles scored, Stairs to third. Reboulet flied out to left fielder Dunn.

2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 left on. Pirates 7, Reds 5.