By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MONTREAL - Adam Dunn picked a good time to snap his worst slide of the year.

Dunn broke an 0-for-23 skid with a solo home run in the seventh inning. Before the outfielder's homer, the Reds' offense was as quiet as a mouse.

Montreal's Orlando Cabrera catches the ball to force out Ryan Freel. (AP photo)

Dunn woke up the Reds just enough to support a fine start by Jose Acevedo. It added up to a tidy 4-1 victory over the Montreal Expos Saturday night before 7,913 at Olympic Stadium.

"It was a big home run," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "Perfect timing."

The home run came when the Reds' offense was in serious need of a boost. The Reds had only one hit off Montreal starter Zach Day when the seventh started.

"He's a good pitcher," Dunn said. "(The Expos') problem isn't pitching. Their pitching is as good as anybody's. We needed to scratch out a run. With the way Josie was pitching, we got that two-run lead and it was pretty much over."

Acevedo went seven innings, allowing one run on five hits, to even his record at 3-3. He walked none and struck out two.

"All my pitches were working," Acevedo said. "I used my defense and got the got the job done."

Todd Jones and Danny Graves finished up. Graves earned his 23rd save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The Reds' Jose Acevedo reacts after being hit by the pitch from Montreal Expos' Zach Day during the second inning. (AP photo)

The Reds have won 12 of 15 to get back to a season-high nine over .500 at 29-20. They lead the National League Central by 21/2 games over Houston and St. Louis, which are tied for second.

It's the biggest lead the Reds have since they were three games up May 22, 2002.

Acevedo's performance was especially big because it saved the bullpen for today's game.

The Reds might need it. Joe Valentine, who is 2-2 with a 6.21 ERA at Triple-A Louisville, is going to start in the place Paul Wilson, who will be skipped because of tightness in his right groin.

"It worked out perfect," Miley said. "You couldn't have scripted it better. We have those (bullpen) guys ready for (today)."

Acevedo is the Reds' resident hard-luck pitcher. If not for three blown saves, he would be 6-3. If not for some shoddy defense in a start in San Diego, his ERA would be 3.50, instead of 4.15.

"Finally, the bullpen did the job it's supposed to," Acevedo said.

Day, a 1996 graduate of the La Salle High, went seven innings, allowing three runs on three hits. He walked six and struck out five.

Ryan Freel led off the game with a solid single to left. The Reds would not get another hit until Dunn's homer to start the seventh.

Fortunately for the Reds, Acevedo was just as good as Day. He allowed two hits in the first and then did allow another till the fifth.

"He was outstanding," Miley said. "He started elevating his pitches a little bit in the last inning. But he threw well."

The Reds broke through in the sixth. Freel led off with a walk and stole second for his sixth steal. He moved to third on Barry Larkin's groundout to second.

It looked as if the Expos were going to intentionally walk Sean Casey. Catcher Brian Schneider stood up and took the first pitch. Then the Expos pitched to him, playing the infield back. So when Casey hit a grounder to short, Freel easily scored the first run.

Endy Chavez hit his third home run of the year in the sixth to tie it.

Dunn got the lead right back. He led off the seventh with a high drive to right for his 12th home run. It was Dunn's first home run since May 11. He had gone 59 at-bats without one.

Dunn had struck out looking in three of his first five at-bats in the series.

"I'm seeing the ball good," Dunn said. "But my balance was all off. I'd see the ball go right down the middle, but I couldn't make myself swing."

An out later, Jacob Cruz walked. Jason LaRue followed with a double. Acevedo struck out, but Cruz scored when Day threw a wild pitch with Freel at the plate.

The Reds added a run in the eighth on D'Angelo Jimenez's RBI double.

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel 3b-rf	3	1	1	0	2	1	.257
Larkin ss	5	0	0	0	0	0	.284
Casey 1b	4	1	1	1	0	0	.387
Griffey Jr. cf	3	0	0	0	1	0	.243
Dunn lf	3	1	1	1	1	1	.255
DJimenez 2b	3	0	1	1	1	0	.223
JaCruz rf	1	1	0	0	3	0	.250
TJones p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Graves p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
LaRue c	4	0	1	0	0	2	.200
JoAcevedo p	3	0	0	0	0	2	.105
JCastro 3b	1	0	1	0	0	0	.295
Totals	30	4	6	3	8	6

Montreal	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Wilkerson rf	4	0	1	0	0	1	.229
EnChavez cf	3	1	1	1	1	0	.279
Vidro 2b	3	0	1	0	1	0	.227
TBatista 3b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.248
OCabrera ss	4	0	0	0	0	0	.239
CEverett lf	3	0	0	0	0	1	.246
NJohnson 1b	4	0	2	0	0	0	.250
Schneider c	3	0	0	0	0	0	.239
Day p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.053
SKim p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Fikac p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Cepicky ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.220
Ayala p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
Totals	31	1	5	1	2	4

Cincinnati	000	001	210	-4	6	0
Montreal	000	001	000	-1	5	0

LOB-Cincinnati 7, Montreal 6. 2B-DJimenez (9), LaRue (6), Wilkerson (9), NJohnson (1). HR-Dunn (12), off Day; EnChavez (3), off JoAcevedo. RBI-Casey (36), Dunn (28), DJimenez (19), EnChavez (9). SB-Freel (8). GIDP-Larkin, LaRue, JoAcevedo, TBatista.

Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 2 (Larkin, Dunn); Montreal 2 (TBatista, Schneider).

Runners moved up-Larkin, Casey.

DP-Cincinnati 1 (Larkin, DJimenez and Casey); Montreal 3 (Schneider, OCabrera and Vidro), (Schneider and NJohnson), (Ayala, OCabrera and NJohnson).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
JoAcevedo W, 3-3	7	5	1	1	0	2	95	4.15
TJones H, 14	1	0	0	0	2	2	26	4.61
Graves S, 23	1	0	0	0	0	0	9	2.79

Montreal	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Day L, 3-6	7	3	3	3	6	5	114	3.56
SKim	1/3	2	1	1	2	0	23	4.23
Fikac	2/3	0	0	0	0	0	6	5.21
Ayala	1	1	0	0	0	1	6	3.81

Inherited runners-scored-Fikac 3-0.

IBB-off SKim (JaCruz) 1. HBP-by JoAcevedo (CEverett). WP-Day.

Umpires-Home, Mike Reilly; First, Chuck Meriwether; Second, C.B. Bucknor; Third, Eric Cooper.

T-2:44. A-7,913 (46,338).