By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

Wily Mo Pena can thank D'Angelo Jimenez's sore side for the opportunity.

He can thank genetics for his power.

He can thank the Reds for their patience.

But Pena himself gets the credit for coming up big in a big situation.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of ceremony, game • For desktop wallpaper of the image above for your computer, click here to download, then right-click to save.

Pena's pinch-hit, two-out grand slam in the seventh inning lifted the Reds to a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night at Great American Ball Park.

What a Wily Mo Moment.

"I just put him up there," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "The kid produced."

The slam capped a six-run seventh inning. The rally started with two outs as the Reds came back from a 4-0 disadvantage despite going hitless until the sixth inning.

A crowd of 41,959, the second-largest of the season and third straight sellout, was there on a night when the Reds honored Ken Griffey Jr. for his 500th homer.

Pena might never get to 500; Friday's shot was the 13th of his career. But when Pena makes contact, he hits the ball as hard and as far as anyone in baseball.

"He's struggled, but you can see his potential," shortstop Barry Larkin said.

The grand slam was Pena's second in 12 days.

"This one is bigger," he said, "because we won the game."

Pena got a chance with the bases loaded because Jimenez, a switch hitter, has been limited to batting left-handed because of a strained oblique muscle.

So when Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon brought in left-hander Mike Gonzalez, Miley countered by sending up Pena.

Pena took two balls way inside. Gonzalez then threw a strike. Pena crushed a fastball to left-center, and it ended up in the Reds' bullpen.

"Last year, I swung at those pitches," Pena said. "This year, I waited until he threw another fastball."

The crowd didn't quiet down until Pena made a curtain call.

"I said, 'Come on, Wily Mo, represent,' " said Jose Acevedo, the Reds' winning pitcher.

Pena is the Reds' best hitter versus lefties - .390 with four homers and 13 RBI in 41 at-bats.

Acevedo got the victory, the Reds' third straight and fourth in five games, on a night when getting out of the first inning was an iffy proposition. The Pirates got four runs in the first - three on Jason Bay's two-out three-run homer.

After that, Acevedo found himself. He retired the next 16 before Bay singled to lead off the seventh.

"Simply put, he kept the ball down and put up zeros," Miley said.

Anything less, and the Reds would have been toast. Pittsburgh starter Kip Wells walked two in the first and then proceeded to send down 14 in a row before Ryan Freel broke up the no-hitter with an infield single in the sixth.

Jason LaRue doubled with two outs to start things in the seventh, and Juan Castro singled. The Pirates kept changing pitchers; the Reds kept hitting.

Tim Hummel singled to score LaRue. Pinch hitter Jermaine Clark hit a single up the middle that scored Castro and sent Hummel to third. Then Clark stole second, and Freel walked to bring up Pena.

So LaRue, Castro, Hummel, Clark and Freel set up the Wily Mo Moment.

"That's basically the way it's been all year," Miley said. "Guys have getting opportunities and they've been contributing."

None more than Wily Mo.

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Kendall c	4	0	0	0	0	0	.322
JWilson ss	4	1	1	0	0	0	.339
Ward 1b	3	1	1	0	1	0	.276
CWilson rf	3	0	0	0	1	0	.295
Mackowiak 3b	4	1	1	1	0	1	.264
Bay lf	4	1	2	3	0	0	.275
TRedman cf	4	0	1	0	0	0	.238
Castillo 2b	3	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Hill ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.272
KWells p	3	0	0	0	0	3	.136
Meadows p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
STorres p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Gonzalez p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Corey p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	33	4	6	4	2	5

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel rf	3	1	1	0	1	0	.249
DJimenez 2b	2	0	0	0	1	0	.254
WPena ph	1	1	1	4	0	0	.268
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
MMatthews p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Graves p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Casey 1b	3	0	0	0	1	0	.357
Griffey Jr. cf	3	0	0	0	1	2	.246
Dunn lf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.257
LaRue c	4	1	2	0	0	2	.235
JCastro ss	4	1	1	0	0	1	.313
Hummel 3b	3	1	1	1	0	0	.309
JoAcevedo p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.077
JClark ph	1	1	1	1	0	0	.167
FLopez 2b	0	0	0	0	0	0	.152
Totals	30	6	7	6	4	8

Pittsburgh	400	000	000	-4	6	0
Cincinnati	000	000	60x	-6	7	0

LOB-Pittsburgh 4, Cincinnati 4. 2B-Ward (8), TRedman (6), LaRue (10). HR-WPena (7), off Gonzalez; Bay (8), off JoAcevedo. RBIs-Mackowiak (38), Bay 3 (20), WPena 4 (20), Hummel (6), JClark (2). SB-JClark (1). GIDP-JCastro. DP-Pittsburgh 1.

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
KWells	6 2/3	3	2	2	2	7	110	5.03
Meadows	0	2	2	2	0	0	6	3.15
STorres L, 4-3	0	0	1	1	1	0	5	3.29
Gonzalez BS, 3	1/3	1	1	1	1	1	16	0.79
Corey	1	1	0	0	0	0	11	5.79

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
JoAcevedo W, 4-6	7	5	4	4	1	4	92	5.30
Riedling H, 12	2/3	1	0	0	1	0	17	3.79
MMatthews H, 4	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	5	3.38
Graves S, 29	1	0	0	0	0	1	11	3.19

T-2:50. A-41,959 (42,271).