By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHILADELPHIA - They played with purpose. And by doing so in a critical weekend series for the Phillies, the Reds maybe learned a little about themselves.

"We're not really playing for much, but we're still playing the season out," first baseman Sean Casey said. "To play teams like the Phillies and the Cubs coming up, it gives us some incentive to go out there and win some games and make a difference."

In a game played at Veterans Stadium during a tight playoff race, the Reds beat the Phillies 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 57,883.

The win was Cincinnati's second consecutive after losing the series opener Friday.

"I think these guys ought to be proud of themselves the way they hung right in there," Cincinnati manager Dave Miley said.

After that first game, a 7-3 loss, a local newspaper columnist urged Philadelphia fans not to get too excited. The Reds, as the columnist explained, were just a bad team.

"I think we kinda took a little offense to that," Casey said. "Well, the Reds just left here with two wins, two out of three big wins as far as the Phillies go."

Casey is one of a few players still left in the clubhouse that experienced the disappointment of 1999.

That season the Reds had a chance to slide into the playoffs, only to drop two of three games against the Brewers. They then lost a one-game playoff to the Mets, and missed the postseason.

"Most of the guys are in the same situation as I am where it's fairly new," third baseman Tim Hummel said.

It was the young kids, the call-ups and the trades, that helped most Sunday.

Pinch-hitter Dernell Stenson tied the game 3-3 with a double in the seventh inning. Two batters later, Hummel's single gave the Reds a one-run lead.

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel cf	5	1	2	0	0	1	.313
Hummel 3b	5	0	2	1	0	0	.243
Reitsma p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
DJimenez 2b	5	1	2	0	0	2	.303
Casey 1b	4	0	2	2	0	0	.291
Branyan lf	4	0	0	0	0	3	.216
WPena rf	3	0	0	0	1	2	.212
CMiller c	1	0	0	0	2	0	.296
Valent pr	0	1	0	0	0	0	.225
LaRue c	0	0	0	0	1	0	.229
Olmedo ss	3	0	0	0	1	1	.250
Harang p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.063
Serafini p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Stenson ph	1	1	1	1	0	0	.242
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
RMateo ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.245
JCastro 3b	0	0	0	0	0	0	.254
Totals	34	4	9	4	5	11

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Byrd cf	4	0	2	0	0	1	.302
Polanco 3b	4	1	1	0	0	0	.285
BAbreu rf	4	1	1	0	0	1	.302
Thome 1b	4	1	1	3	0	1	.268
Lieberthal c	4	0	0	0	0	0	.320
Ledee lf	3	0	0	0	0	1	.249
Punto pr	0	0	0	0	0	0	.217
Michaels lf	1	0	1	0	0	0	.327
Rollins ss	3	0	0	0	1	2	.262
ToPerez 2b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.270
Padilla p	2	0	0	0	0	0	.062
Wendell p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Plesac p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Utley ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.233
Cormier p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
Totals	34	3	6	3	1	7

Cincinnati	100	001	200	-4	9	0
Philadelphia	000	300	000	-3	6	1

E-Padilla (4). LOB-Cincinnati 8, Philadelphia 5. 2B-DJimenez (13), Casey (19), Stenson (5), Michaels (10). HR-Thome (44), off Harang. RBIs-Hummel (10), Casey 2 (75), Stenson (11), Thome 3 (126). SB-Byrd (9). CS-WPena (2). GIDP-Freel, Casey.

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Harang	5	5	3	3	0	3	97	4.83
Serafini W, 1-3	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	5.92
Riedling H, 4	1 2/3	0	0	0	0	3	21	5.03
PNorton H, 5	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	5	2.93
Reitsma S, 11	1	1	0	0	1	1	19	4.06

Philadelphia	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Padilla L, 14-11	6 1/3	7	4	3	4	9	114	3.57
Wendell	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	3.54
Plesac	2/3	0	0	0	0	0	4	2.73
Cormier	2	1	0	0	1	2	19	1.74

Wendell pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

Inherited runners-scored-Wendell 2-0, Plesac 3-0.

WP-Riedling.

Umpires-Home, Fieldin Culbreth; First, Rob Drake; Second, Terry Craft; Third, Dan Iassogna.

T-2:57. A-57,883 (62,418).