By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MILWAUKEE - Want a little positive news on the Reds front? Seth Etherton is starting to look like he can be a factor in the rotation next year, and Wily Mo Pena is starting to look like he has a clue.

Both played big roles in the Reds' 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers here Monday. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak to the Brewers, and put the Reds back in a tie for fifth place with the Brewers in the National League Central.

Etherton (2-2) threw six innings of three-hit, one-run ball.

"He's been very solid," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "He should be really good coming to spring after the winter off."

Pena hit his first home run of the year for what turned out to be the margin of victory. Pena was 2-for-3 with a walk on the day.

"The last eight or nine at-bats, he's staying back and not chasing pitches," said hitting coach Ray Knight. "Today, I was happier with the walk than anything."

Etherton, a 26-year-old right-hander, did not allow a hit through four innings. That was impressive, considering he was facing the Brewers for the second time in five days.

"We tried not to do exactly the same things," he said. "We wanted to stay away from their strengths - go down and away."

The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the second on Tim Hummel's first career homer.

The Reds pushed the lead to 4-0 in the third. Ryan Freel led off with a homer. Juan Castro then doubled. An out later, Russell Branyan doubled Castro home. Hummel got the third in with a single.

From there, the Reds hung on for dear life. Etherton gave up a run in the fifth, but pitched out of a jam. Miley pulled him at six innings and 98 pitches.

"The reports when he came to us was you want to keep him right around the century mark," Miley said.

Pena's home run came in the sixth to get the lead back to four at 5-1.

He hit the first pitch he saw from former Red Dave Burba out to left-center. Pena's 2-for-3 raised his average to .175. Knight's been working with Pena. He's had him drop his hands, and encouraged him to keep his weight back.

"The last two or three days, I've really noticed a difference," Knight said.

The Reds have to make a decision on Pena. He's played mostly against left-handers, and has only 81 at-bats on the year.

"That's going all the way back to April," Miley said. "Ray's done some things with him. He's laying off pitches that he would've chased."

The home run proved to be a big one. The Brewers, who scored a run in the eighth, had two hits and three walks in the inning, but a double play and a fine play by shortstop Ray Olmedo for the final out bailed the Reds out.

The ninth was another adventure.

Chris Reitsma, who got the last out of the eighth, struck out Royce Clayton to start the inning. Jason Conti doubled and Scott Podsednik walked. Both runners moved up on Keith Ginter's groundout.

Former Red Brady Clark followed with a little roller that second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez fielded. He hurried to get Clark and threw the ball away.

Both runners scored to make it 5-4.

That brought up Richie Sexson. His long fly was tracked down by Pena on the warning track in right.

"I didn't think he got all of it," Reitsma said. "But I definitely held my breath."

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel cf	5	1	1	1	0	0	.270
JCastro ss-3b	5	1	1	0	0	0	.256
Casey 1b	2	0	1	0	1	0	.290
Olmedo 2b-ss	1	0	0	0	0	1	.261
Branyan 3b-1b	4	1	1	1	0	1	.215
Smitherman lf	4	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Hummel 2b-3b	4	1	2	2	0	0	.316
RWagner p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Reitsma p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
LaRue c	4	0	1	0	0	2	.226
WPena rf	3	1	2	1	1	1	.175
Etherton p	2	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Randall p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
DJimenez 2b	1	0	0	0	0	0	.309
Totals	35	5	9	5	2	5

Milwaukee	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Podsednik cf	4	2	1	0	1	1	.316
KGinter 2b	3	0	0	0	2	0	.264
BClark lf	4	0	2	1	1	0	.307
Sexson 1b	5	0	1	1	0	0	.265
Vander Wal rf	3	1	1	0	1	0	.261
Helms 3b	2	0	1	0	2	0	.251
Osik c	3	0	1	0	0	0	.242
Kieschnick ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.321
EddPerez c	0	0	0	0	0	0	.266
Clayton ss	4	0	1	0	0	2	.222
WFranklin p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.145
MSmith ph	0	0	0	1	0	0	.318
Burba p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Hall ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.282
de los Santos p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Conti ph	1	1	1	0	0	0	.308
Totals	32	4	9	3	7	3

Cincinnati	013	001	000	-5	9	2
Milwaukee	000	010	012	-4	9	1

E-RWagner (1), DJimenez (1), Helms (17). LOB-Cincinnati 6, Milwaukee 9. 2B-JCastro (11), Branyan (7), BClark (18), Conti (1). HR-WPena (1), off Burba; Freel (3), off WFranklin; Hummel (1), off WFranklin. RBIs-Freel (6), Branyan (16), Hummel 2 (4), WPena (5), BClark (34), Sexson (102), MSmith (7). S-Etherton. SF-MSmith. GIDP-LaRue, BClark 2, Clayton.

DP-Cincinnati 3 (JCastro, Hummel and Casey), (JCastro, Olmedo and Branyan), (JCastro, DJimenez and Branyan); Milwaukee 1 (Clayton, KGinter and Sexson).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Etherton W, 2-2	6	3	1	1	3	2	98	4.84
Randall	1	3	1	1	1	0	27	2.25
RWagner H, 6	2/3	1	0	0	2	0	16	1.66
Reitsma S, 6	1 1/3	2	2	1	1	1	36	4.01

Milwaukee	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
WFranklin L, 10-11	5	8	4	4	1	3	82	5.22
Burba	2	1	1	1	0	2	29	3.41
de los Santos	2	0	0	0	1	0	23	4.13

Randall pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.

Inherited runners-scored-RWagner 2-1, Reitsma 3-0.

T-2:59. A-19,588 (41,900).