By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHILADELPHIA - Sean Casey is seeing baseball life from the other side. Almost four years ago, the Reds were in a position similar to the Phillies' right now.

But when presented a chance to gain at the expense of a last-place team, Cincinnati lost a crucial series against the Brewers before losing a one-game playoff that ended a 96-win season in heartbreak.

"I think back to (1999) and, yeah, these games are big for the guys that are playing in them," the Reds first baseman said before Friday's 7-3 loss against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium before 30,191 fans.

"We're here to win baseball games, too, even though we've kind of taken a different path than the Phillies this year," Case said.

The Phillies reclaimed the National League wild-card lead. They moved a half-game ahead of Florida, which lost 1-0 at Atlanta.

The Reds, losers of three straight, are on the verge of their fourth 90-loss season since 1949.

"We didn't make a whole lot of adjustments," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "We gave up two home runs, walked way too many guys and struck out too much."

Reds starting pitcher Josh Hall, making his first start since pitching seven scoreless innings against the Cubs on Sunday, struggled with his control throughout his five-inning stint.

The right-hander allowed five runs, three in the first inning on one of two homers by Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal during the game, and walked three.

"I just didn't pitch the same," said Hall, who cited a tall mound as part of the reason behind his control problems Friday. "Last time I was getting ahead of guys and I could afford to throw a curve-ball away or a change-up away. (Friday) I just worked behind in the count and didn't throw strikes."

That wasn't a problem for four Phillies pitchers, who combined to strike out 14 and hold the Reds to five hits.

"Pitch after pitch," Miley said, "the same swings."

Philadelphia starter Randy Wolf improved to 3-0 this season against the Reds and 5-1 lifetime.

Wolf (16-9) won his fourth straight decision, giving up two runs and four hits in six shaky innings. He worked around four walks, striking out eight.

Wolf's victory total is the highest by a Philadelphia pitcher since Curt Schilling won 17 in 1997.

The Reds scored two of their runs off Wolf in the third inning.

Center fielder Ryan Freel hit a run-scoring double and third baseman Juan Castro drove in Hall on a groundball out.

Left fielder Wily Mo Pena made it 7-3 in the eighth with a solo homer.

"We didn't make adjustments," Miley said. "Not just off him, but pretty much whoever they threw out there."

SHORT HOPS: Wolf has a career-high 174 strikeouts. ... Jimmy Rollins stole his 18th base for the Phillies. ... Bobby Abreu walked three times. ... Hall led off the fifth with a single for his first career hit. Hall also walked and scored in the third. ... The boo-birds were out for Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell after he struck out in the sixth. ... Casey went 0-for-3 against Wolf and is 3-for-19 in his career against him. ... Cincinnati's Ruben Mateo stuck out swinging all four at-bats.

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel cf	5	0	1	1	0	2	.311
JCastro 3b	4	0	0	1	1	1	.257
DJimenez 2b	3	0	1	0	2	1	.305
Casey 1b	4	0	0	0	0	2	.290
WPena lf	4	1	2	1	0	0	.214
LaRue c	3	0	0	0	1	1	.228
RMateo rf	4	0	0	0	0	4	.246
Olmedo ss	3	1	0	0	1	2	.254
Hall p	1	1	1	0	0	0	.167
Hummel ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.232
Cerros p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Reith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Valent ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.225
Totals	32	3	5	3	6	14

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Byrd cf	3	1	2	2	1	1	.300
Polanco 3b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.288
BAbreu rf	1	2	0	0	3	0	.304
Thome 1b	4	0	1	1	0	2	.269
Lieberthal c	4	2	2	4	0	0	.323
Rollins ss	3	1	1	0	1	0	.265
Burrell lf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.210
Utley 2b	3	1	1	0	1	0	.239
Wolf p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.188
Ledee ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.251
Wendell p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Plesac p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Punto ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.217
MiWilliams p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	30	7	7	7	6	5

Cincinnati	002	000	010	-3	5	1
Philadelphia	310	011	10x	-7	7	1

E-LaRue (11), Wolf (3). LOB-Cincinnati 9, Philadelphia 5. 2B-Freel (6), Rollins (39). 3B-Thome (3). HR-WPena (5), off Plesac; Lieberthal 2 (13), off Reith, Hall. RBIs-Freel (10), JCastro (33), WPena (15), Byrd 2 (45), Thome (123), Lieberthal 4 (80). SB-Rollins (19), Utley (2). CS-BAbreu (9). S-Hall.

Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 4 (DJimenez, Casey, WPena, Hummel); Philadelphia 3 (Polanco, Lieberthal, Wolf).

DP-Cincinnati 1 (LaRue and Olmedo).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Hall L, 0-1	5	5	5	5	4	3	88	6.14
Cerros	1	1	1	1	2	1	32	9.00
Reith	2	1	1	1	0	1	35	4.55

Philadelphia	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Wolf W, 16-9	6	4	2	2	4	8	112	4.13
Wendell	2/3	0	0	0	1	1	16	3.54
Plesac	1 1/3	1	1	1	0	4	22	2.87
MiWilliams	1	0	0	0	1	1	23	5.92

Inherited runners-scored-Plesac 1-0.

T-3:02. A-30,191 (62,418).