By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati's Javier Valentin is congratulated by teammate Sean Casey (right) after hitting a two-run homer Wednesday. Associated Press photos

Juan Castro hits a solo walk-off home run off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jeff Bennett.

Juan Castro is greeted at home by the rest of the team, after Castro hit a solo home run.

The Reds kicked off their Cinco de Mayo celebration by doing their version of "The Hop" at home plate.

Juan Castro, the pride of Los Mochis, Mexico, hit a 10th-inning, pinch-hit home run to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 Wednesday night.

By the time Castro touched the plate, Sean Casey and Barry Larkin were chanting: "Cinco de Mayo! Cinco de Mayo!"

Castro's home run - his first of the year and first ever as pinch-hitter - fittingly came on the Mexican holiday.

"My first homer on Cinco de Mayo," Castro said. "It came at a good time for us."

A very good time.

The Reds had lost seven of eight coming in. They got the winning run to third with one out in both the eighth and ninth and didn't get the bat on the ball the rest of either inning.

So Castro's game-winner was a huge emotional swing.

"If we hadn't won it, obviously we'd be talking more about the eighth and ninth," Reds manager Dave Miley said.

Three of the Reds' nine hits were home runs. Javier Valentin and Adam Dunn had brought the Reds back before Castro won it.

You expect home runs from Dunn, and even Valentin. But not from Castro - even though he hit nine last year.

"I'm here for my glove," he said. "But I can do it with the bat, too."

The victory put the Reds back above .500 at 14-13. It's their first in four games against the Brewers, who scored walk-off wins over the Reds twice last week.

This doesn't erase the Dual Debacle at Miller Park, but it helps.

"It's been tough the last few days," Castro said. "We were down a little bit. Hopefully, everyone comes back with a different mentality and we start winning games."

Starter Jose Acevedo lasted only 4 1/3 innings, thanks to a blister on the middle finger of his right hand. Acevedo gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits.

But the bullpen pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball. Danny Graves got the win, breaking a 10-game losing streak that dated to July 1 of last year.

The blister had started to rise when Acevedo was warming up. He gave up a solo home run to Kevin Ginter and an RBI double to Lyle Overbay in the first.

The Brewers picked up another run on Valentin's throwing error in the second.

With the way Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets was throwing, the 3-0 lead looked big.

The Reds got a run back in the third. D'Angelo Jimenez walked with one out. Larkin and Casey followed with singles - Casey's scoring Jimenez. But Dunn struck out and Brandon Larson popped out to end the inning.

The Reds tied it in the fourth. Jacob Cruz walked and Valentin followed with his second home run in three days.

Acevedo had settled in by then, retiring eight of nine. He gave up a double to Bill Hall in the fifth. After Ginter reached on Larson's fourth error in nine games, Valentin called for Miley and trainer Mark Mann.

"It was split open," Acevedo said. "Mark Mann said no more."

The Reds brought in left-hander Phil Norton. He gave up an RBI single to Geoff Jenkins that gave the Brewers a 4-3 lead.

Norton retired the next five batters he faced - three by strikeout.

Riedling pitched two perfect innings, striking out two. After Graves pitched a scoreless eighth, Dunn tied it by leading off the Reds' half of the inning with his 10th home run, a shot the opposite way to left-center.

"That was nice," Dunn said. "It's the first time I hit the ball well the opposite way in awhile."

An out later, Jacob Cruz walked. Valentin followed with a single to right and Cruz ended up at third.

The Brewers brought in Brooks Kieschnick to face pinch-hitter Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey took a third strike. So did Ryan Freel.

The Reds blew a chance in the ninth. Larkin singled with one out. The Brewers brought in Luis Vizcaino to face Casey. Casey singled, sending Larkin to third. The Brewers intentionally walked Dunn.

But Larson and Jason Romano struck out swinging.

It looked like it was going to be another bad night for the Reds - until Castro swung and sent it about 10 rows into the left-field seats.

"It's a huge win for us," Dunn said. "The last few innings, we blew opportunities. We've been struggling. We needed a pick-me-up. When Juan went to the plate, I had no doubt. It's Cinco de Mayo."

Milwaukee	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Podsednik cf	5	0	0	0	0	1	.278
BHall ss	5	1	1	0	0	0	.268
KGinter 2b	5	1	1	1	0	1	.268
Jenkins lf	5	1	2	1	0	0	.276
Overbay 1b	4	0	1	1	0	2	.317
Helms 3b	4	0	0	0	0	2	.207
Grieve rf	3	0	2	0	0	1	.259
BClark rf	1	0	1	0	0	0	.244
Moeller c	4	1	1	0	0	0	.254
BSheets p	2	0	0	0	1	0	.000
BFord p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Kieschnick p	0	0	0	0	1	0	.313
LVizcaino p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JBennett p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	38	4	9	3	2	7

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DJimenez 2b	4	1	0	0	1	2	.216
Larkin ss	5	0	3	0	0	1	.305
Casey 1b	5	0	2	1	0	0	.394
Dunn lf	3	1	1	1	2	2	.304
Larson 3b	5	0	0	0	0	2	.258
JaCruz rf	2	1	0	0	2	2	.286
Romano pr-rf	1	0	0	0	0	1	.077
Valentin c	4	1	2	2	1	0	.188
WPena cf	3	0	0	0	0	2	.200
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Griffey Jr. ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.226
Graves p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JCastro ph	1	1	1	1	0	0	.250
JoAcevedo p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.182
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Freel cf	2	0	0	0	0	2	.230
Totals	38	5	9	5	6	16

Milwaukee	210	010	000	0	-4	9	1
Cincinnati	001	200	010	1	-5	9	2

One out when winning run scored.

E-BHall (3), Larson (4), Valentin (3). LOB-Milwaukee 6, Cincinnati 11. 2B-BHall (2), Overbay (12), Moeller (4), Larkin (6). HR-JCastro (1), off JBennett; Dunn (10), off BFord; Valentin (2), off BSheets; KGinter (5), off JoAcevedo. RBIs-KGinter (11), Jenkins (18), Overbay (25), Casey (22), Dunn (20), Valentin 2 (6), JCastro (5). SB-Podsednik (15). CS-BClark (3). GIDP-Podsednik. DP-Cincinnati 1.

Milwaukee	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
BSheets	6	4	3	3	4	10	126	3.43
BFord BS, 3	1 1/3	2	1	1	1	2	33	7.71
Kieschnick	1	1	0	0	0	2	12	1.38
LVizcaino	2/3	1	0	0	1	2	14	3.46
JBennett L, 1-2	1/3	1	1	1	0	0	5	4.72

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
JoAcevedo	4 1/3	6	4	3	1	1	66	4.54
PNorton	1 2/3	1	0	0	0	3	24	6.30
Riedling	2	0	0	0	0	2	26	0.64
Graves W, 1-2	2	2	0	0	1	1	22	3.07

IBB-off LVizcaino (Dunn) 1, off Graves (Kieschnick) 1. A-14,965 (42,271).