By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CHICAGO - Although he penciled Wily Mo Pena's name into the lineup on Sunday, Reds manager Dave Miley wanted to be perfectly clear: "We all know (Austin) Kearns is our right fielder," Miley said.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

Kearns was not in the lineup Friday and Saturday because of a contusion on his left hand, but he was healthy enough to play Sunday, when he pinch-hit and contributed a two-run home run to the Reds' 11-10 victory.

"You've got to play the hot hand," Miley said. "Wily Mo's got the hot hand."

Pena went 4-for-7 with a home run, a double and three RBI in his two starts. Saturday, he drove home the winning run in the Reds' 3-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Sunday, Pena went 1-for-4 with an RBI triple. The fact that Kearns has been struggling the whole year probably had something to do with Miley's decision to play Pena. Kearns is hitting .188 with two homers and four RBI. He's struck out 13 times in 32 at-bats.

Kearns, by the way, will start today's series finale against the Cubs.

FINALLY: Todd Van Poppel finally pitched on Sunday, after not even warming up in the first 10 games. He was the last player on a major league roster since the beginning of the season to get into a game.

Van Poppel pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing a run on two hits - not bad with the wind blowing out at 20 mph and gusting up to 30 mph.

"It was good to get out there and be part of a win," Van Poppel said.

LEFTY WOES: Phil Norton, the Reds' only left-hander in the bullpen, has gone two straight outings without retiring a batter.

He walked one and gave up a hit in his appearance Sunday, when he was charged with one run. Norton gave up hits to the only two batters he faced in Friday's game, when he was charged with a pair of runs.

Norton has given up five runs in his last one inning of work, pushing his ERA from 0.00 to 11.25.

FARM REPORT: Brandon Larson went 2-for-4 with a home run for Triple-A Louisville Sunday. He is hitting .368 on his rehab assignment.

UP NEXT: The Reds wrap up the four-game series with the Cubs today at 1:20 p.m. Right-hander Jimmy Haynes (0-1, 8.31 ERA) faces right-hander Matt Clement (1-1, 3.60). It's Haynes' second start of the year. He went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits in his first start, a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh.

Haynes did not pitch well against the Cubs last year. He was 0-3 with an 11.93 ERA in three starts.

REDS FACT: Danny Graves' save Sunday was his sixth of the season and 137th of his career, 11 shy of the club all-time record of 148 by John Franco.

Heavy hitters

Chicago's Moises Alou and Cincinnati's Adam Dunn have been on an offensive tear, with one game still to come in the four-game series.

Dunn	AB	R	H	RBI	HR
Game 1	4	2	2	0	0
Game 2	2	2	2	1	1
Game 3	5	2	2	5	2
Total	11	6	6	6	3
Alou	AB	R	H	RBI	HR
Game 1	5	3	4	3	2
Game 2	3	1	1	1	0
Game 3	5	2	3	1	1
Total	13	6	8	5	3