By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LOS ANGELES - How sweet was the Reds' three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers that completed Sunday with a 6-3 win? Let us count the ways.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Sunday's game

• 1. It was the first sweep of a series of the year.

• 2. It came against the team with the best record in the National League.

• 3. The Dodgers had not lost as many as three in a row all year.

• 4. The Dodgers had not been swept in three games at home since July 31-Aug. 2 of 2001.

• 5. The Reds did it without using their top hitter, Sean Casey, who was out with a sore thumb.

• 6. It allowed the Reds to finish the six-game West Coast swing with a 4-2 record.

• 7. It put the Reds three games over .500 for the first time since April 29.

• 8. It moved them into third place in the NL Central, only two games behind the Astros and Cubs.

• 9. It happened because their starting pitchers put up a 1.37 ERA in the series.

• 10. It's the first time the Reds have won three in a row since April 22-24.

We could go on, but you get the point.

"It was a great series for us," Casey said, "especially after we lost the last two in San Diego. The Dodgers had been playing great. To sweep them is huge."

The visitor's clubhouse was one happy place Sunday afternoon. Casey, reduced to a cheerleader by the thumb problem, took a lot of good-natured grief.

"I'm going back to Florida," he said. "I'll take off the rest of May. When I get back, we'll be in first place."

With the way the Reds pitched in this series, offense was largely unnecessary.

Aaron Harang started Sunday. He went 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out five.

Todd Van Poppel pitched six scoreless innings Saturday; Paul Wilson pitched seven innings of one-run ball.

"I didn't want to be the lone duck not to do well," Harang said.

Reds manager Dave Miley had a simple explanation for his club getting on a roll.

"I don't like to knock guys," he said, "but it was tough to get a streak going with Jimmy (Haynes) in the rotation."

The Reds scored four runs in the first. L.A. starter Jeff Weaver hit Ryan Freel with a 2-2 pitch to start the game. D'Angelo Jimenez, back in the lineup but in the second spot, doubled. Ken Griffey Jr. followed with a walk to load the bases.

Adam Dunn got in two runs with a fly ball double down the left-field line. An out later, Jacob Cruz made it 3-0 with a groundout RBI.

Tim Hummel, who has been good in the clutch since taking over for Brandon Larson, singled up the middle.

That made it 4-0.

From there, the Reds flitted away chance after chance.

They got the leadoff runner on in the second, third, fifth and seventh. They wasted leadoff doubles in the fifth and seventh.

But Harang did a fine job of preserving the lead.

The Dodgers broke through in the fourth on David Ross' two-out solo home run. Alex Cora followed with a double but Harang stranded him. That started a streak of nine in a row retired.

The streak ended with pinch-hitter Joe Thurston's two-out triple in the seventh.

Miley brought in Phil Norton. Pinch-hitter Jose Hernandez hit the second pitch from Norton out for a two-run homer, and it was 4-3.

Juan Castro led off the eighth with a single. Pinch-hitter Jason Romano bunted Castro over. Freel was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game.

When Jimenez popped out, it had the look of another fizzled rally.

But Griffey lined a 2-2 pitch from 95-mph-throwing reliever Guillermo Mota into right to make it a 6-3 game.

"That was a big hit," Miley said.

The RBI were Griffey's 25th and 26th of the year. That moved him past Casey into the club lead.

Griffey is hitting only .248 but he iced each of the last two games here with two late RBI. In other words, he's starting to play like Ken Griffey again.

"It's taken a little time," he said.

The sweep

The Reds' three-game sweep of the Dodgers was their first series sweep of the season.

The road trip

The Reds finished the trip 4-2, and are 11-11 on the road this season.

5/11 - Reds 6, Padres 3
5/12 - Padres 2, Reds 1
5/13 - Padres 8, Reds 2
Friday - Reds 2, Dodgers 1
Saturday - Reds 4, Dodgers 0
Sunday - Reds 6, Dodgers 3

How they stand

The Reds left home 16-15, four games behind first-place Houston. They cut two games off the Astros' lead.

NL Central

Team	W	L	GB
Chicago	22	15	-
Houston	22	15	-
Reds	20	17	2
St. Louis	20	18	2 1/2
Milwaukee	19	18	3
Pittsburgh	17	18	4

Home cookin'

The Reds open a 10-game homestand - their second-longest of the season - against Colorado Tuesday.

The Reds have won four of five home series and haven't lost consecutive games at home this season. They are 9-6.

Tues.	Colorado	7:10 p.m.
Wed.	Colorado	7:10 p.m.
Thurs.	Colorado	7:10 p.m.
Fri.	Houston	7:10 p.m.
Sat.	Houston	7:10 p.m.
Sun.	Houston	1:15 p.m.
Mon.	Houston	7:10 p.m.
5/25	Florida	7:10 p.m.
5/26	Florida	7:10 p.m.
5/27	Florida	12:35 p.m.

Game Stats

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel lf-rf	2	2	2	0	1	0	.274
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Graves p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
DJimenez 2b	5	1	2	0	0	0	.209
Griffey Jr. cf	4	1	2	2	1	0	.248
Dunn 1b-lf	5	1	3	2	0	1	.301
LaRue c	5	0	1	0	0	2	.197
JaCruz rf	4	0	0	1	0	0	.241
Valentin 1b	1	0	0	0	0	0	.167
Hummel 3b	5	0	1	1	0	2	.261
JCastro ss	3	1	1	0	1	1	.258
Harang p	3	0	0	0	0	3	.056
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Romano ph-rf	0	0	0	0	0	0	.067
Totals	37	6	12	6	3	9

Los Angeles	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Grabowski lf	3	0	1	0	0	0	.224
JHernandez ph-lf	1	1	1	2	0	0	.356
Izturis ss	4	0	1	0	0	1	.281
Bradley cf	4	0	1	0	0	1	.254
ShGreen rf	3	0	0	0	1	1	.231
Beltre 3b	4	0	1	0	0	1	.354
Lo Duca 1b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.357
Ross c	4	1	1	1	0	0	.147
Cora 2b	4	0	2	0	0	1	.293
Weaver p	2	0	0	0	0	0	.278
Lima p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.400
TMartin p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Dreifort p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Thurston ph	1	1	1	0	0	0	.200
Mota p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Gagne p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Ventura ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.257
Totals	35	3	9	3	1	6

Cincinnati	400	000	020	-6	12	0
Los Angeles	000	100	200	-3	9	0

LOB-Cincinnati 10, Los Angeles 6. 2B-DJimenez (7), Griffey Jr. (8), Dunn 2 (6), Grabowski (3), Bradley (7), Cora (4). 3B-Freel (5), Thurston (1). HR-JHernandez (4), off PNorton; Ross (2), off Harang. RBIs-Griffey Jr. 2 (26), Dunn 2 (24), JaCruz (5), Hummel (4), JHernandez 2 (6), Ross (4). CS-Freel (3). S-Romano. GIDP-Lo Duca.

DP-Cincinnati 1 (Riedling, JCastro and Valentin).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Harang W, 4-1	6 2/3	6	2	2	1	5	94	4.57
PNorton H, 5	1/3	2	1	1	0	0	5	5.68
Riedling H, 8	1	1	0	0	0	0	13	0.47
Graves S, 17	1	0	0	0	0	1	11	2.91

Los Angeles	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Weaver L, 2-5	5	7	4	4	3	5	105	5.07
Lima	1	1	0	0	0	2	16	5.88
TMartin	2/3	2	0	0	0	0	12	3.86
Dreifort	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	1	3.63
Mota	1	2	2	2	0	1	27	2.18
Gagne	1	0	0	0	0	1	10	1.59

Inherited runners-scored-PNorton 1-1, Dreifort 2-0.

HBP-by Mota (Freel), by Weaver (Freel). WP-Mota.

T-2:49. A-41,479 (56,000).