The Cincinnati Enquirer

MEET THE REDS: Jacob Cruz

Position: OF/1B

Age: 31

Height/weight: 6 feet/210 pounds

Throws/bats: Left/left

Born/resides: Oxnard, Calif./Gilbert, Ariz.

How acquired: Signed as a minor-league free agent Jan. 10, 2003.

Favorite TV show: The Sopranos

Favorite movie: Big Fish

Other than baseball, he likes to: "I don't have a hobby. I need one. I'm baseball all the time."

Trivially speaking: Last season was the first since 1995 that Cruz did not spend time in the major leagues.

INJURY REPORT

Rule 5 selection D.J. Mattox will be in Cincinnati Thursday to have his elbow examined by Dr. Tim Kremchek. If surgery is necessary, it will be performed Friday. Mattox has had a sore elbow since camp began.

GAME REPORT: Reds 5, Red Sox 4

The bats: Juan Castro's triple off the wall in left-center drove home Ray Olmedo with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Reds tied the score with little ball: Jermaine Clark doubled, moved to third on McKay Christensen's sacrifice and scored on Olmedo's infield single. It was Olmedo's second RBI of the night. The Reds did a good job of situational hitting; their first two runs scored on sacrifice flies. Austin Kearns went 0-for-3 and has one hit in his last 13 at-bats.

Boston Red Sox shortstop Carlos Febles turns a fifth-inning double play over Reds catcher Jason LaRue. (AP photo)

The arms: Jose Acevedo made another strong start - five innings, five hits, two runs, no walks, two strikeouts. He has struck out 12 and walked none this spring. Phil Norton worked a 1-2-3 inning after giving up at least one run and three hits in each of his first four outings.

The rest: Kevin Youkilis, a Sycamore High School and University of Cincinnati product, hit a two-run homer off Todd Van Poppel to give the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. The game drew 7,407 - a season high at Ed Smith Stadium.

Up next: The Reds have split-squad games today, at Tampa vs. the New York Yankees and at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In Tampa, Reds right-hander Paul Wilson (1-1, 7.56 ERA) faces Yankees right-hander Jose Contreras (1-0, 3.60). In Sarasota, Reds right-hander Jimmy Haynes (0-0, 0.00) makes his first start, facing Pirates right-hander Josh Fogg (0-1, 5.00).

BOSTON					CINCINNATI
	ab	r	h	bi		ab	r	h	bi
Damon cf	3	0	1	1	Jimenez 2b	3	0	1	0
Hyzdu cf	1	0	0	0	Olmedo 2b	2	1	2	2
Mueller 3b	3	0	0	0	Larkin ss	1	0	0	1
Shumprt 3b	1	0	1	0	Castro ss	2	0	1	1
MRamirez lf	3	0	0	0	Kearns dh	4	0	0	0
Crespo lf	1	0	1	0	Casey 1b	1	1	0	0
Ortiz 1b	3	0	0	0	Cruz 1b	1	0	0	0
McCarty 1b	1	0	0	0	LaRue c	3	0	2	0
Burks dh	3	0	0	0	Taylor pr-lf	1	0	0	0
Shoppch ph	1	0	0	0	Dunn lf	2	0	1	1
Millar rf	3	1	2	0	Miller c	1	0	0	0
Owens pr-rf	1	1	0	0	Hummel 3b	4	0	0	0
Varitek c	2	0	0	0	Clark rf	3	1	1	0
Domnque c	2	0	0	0	Christnsn cf	2	2	1	0
Febles ss	4	0	1	0
Reese 2b	2	1	2	1
Youkilis 3b	2	1	1	2
Totals	36	4	9	4	Totals	30	5	9	5

Boston	000	020	200-4
Cincinnati	000	110	102-5

DP-Cin. 1. LOB-Boston 5, Cin. 8. 2B-Reese, Damon, Jimenez, Dunn, Christensen, Clark. 3B-Castro. HR-Youkilis (1). S-Christensen. SF-Dunn, Larkin.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Boston
Arroyo	3	0	0	0	3	5
Seibel	2	2	2	2	2	0
Brown	1 2-3	4	1	1	0	2
Jones	1 1-3	0	0	0	0	2
Martinez L, 0-1	1-3	3	2	2	0	0
Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Acevedo	5	5	2	2	0	4
Norton	1	0	0	0	0	0
Van Poppel	1	2	2	2	0	3
Reitsma	1	2	0	0	0	2
Graves W, 1-0	1	0	0	0	0	0

WP-Arroyo. Balk-Acevedo. T-2:35. A-7,407.