By Joe Kay
The Associated Press

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos from today's game

Not even Sammy Sosa's first homer could prevent the Cubs from losing again.

Sean Casey had three hits, including a bases-loaded double that drove in two runs, and Jose Acevedo pitched six solid innings today, leading the Reds to a 5-3 victory that represented an about-face for both teams.

By taking two of three, the Reds moved above .500 for the first time since June 19 of last season. They opened their new ballpark last year by getting swept in a three-game series against Pittsburgh.

The Cubs dropped below the break-even mark for the first time since last July, when they were a season-low one game under three times. They got on a roll and won their first division title in 14 years.

The opening series showed they've got some work to do.

Matt Clement (0-1) had a familiar bout of control problems, allowing the Reds to pull ahead 4-0 after three innings. The streaky right-hander needed 29 pitches in the first inning alone, when Casey doubled home two runs.

Clement tied for the NL lead in wild pitches last season with 13. He had one in his 2004 debut, and also walked three and hit a batter. Catcher Michael Barrett wasn't much help - his passed ball let in a run.

Acevedo (1-0) won only two games in the majors last season and was such an afterthought that he's featured in the 2004 media guide for Triple-A Louisville. He won a spot in the rotation this spring by avoiding walks and emotional meltdowns after mistakes.

The right-hander gave up five hits - all for extra bases - and didn't walk a batter in six innings, throwing 61 strikes in 81 pitches.

Sosa had two of the hits, emerging from an 0-for-9 slump to open the season. He doubled home a run in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the sixth, a shot that landed only a few rows into the seats in left. Sosa was so uncertain it would get out that he didn't do his home-run hop.

Sosa had another double in the eighth off Todd Jones.

The Reds won the last two games of the series by getting solid starts from Paul Wilson and Acevedo. Danny Graves saved both games, this time by working a scoreless ninth.

Corey Patterson misjudged Adam Dunn's liner to center and let it drop in front of him for a single. Kent Mercker loaded the bases in the fifth and walked D'Angelo Jimenez on four pitches to force in a run.

Sosa provided most of their offense, emphatically ending his two-game slump. His homer left him one behind Ernie Banks' 512 for the franchise record. He has 540 overall, 10th on the career list behind Mike Schmidt (548).

Ken Griffey Jr. had a pair of singles for the Reds, leaving him 3-for-8 with a homer in two games. He had to sit out the opener with a sore calf and ran the bases slowly as a precaution.