By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer
![[IMAGE]](griffey.jpg)
Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr. watches the ball after hitting a two-run home run in the fifth inning.
(AP photo)
|
MILWAUKEE - One of the more painful losses for the Reds this season came April 28 when they blew a nine-run lead and lost to the Brewers at Milwaukee.
That loss probably never would have happened if Paul Wilson's back had not stiffened up that night.
Wilson showed again Thursday that in 2004 he is not the kind of pitcher who blows big leads.
He went 6 2/3 innings and limited the Brewers to three runs to help the Reds to a much-needed 9-3 victory at Miller Park Thursday.
Wilson is 9-2 with a 3.66 ERA, and his nine wins are a career-high.
"It feels good - real good," Wilson said. "But there's a lot of work to be done."
The Reds snapped a three-game losing streak and moved into a virtual tie with the Brewers for third place in the National League Central.
"We didn't play well in St. Louis," Ken Griffey Jr. said. "We didn't come up with the two-out hits. Tonight, we did."
Griffey jump-started the Reds' offense with career home run No. 501, which came 46 at-bats and 17 games after No. 500.
Griffey, who struggled pre- and post-500, was 2-for-4 with four RBI Thursday.
"I'm trying to be a little more selective," he said. "I got in a rut where I wasn't very selective."
Barry Larkin was 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Reds, and Adam Dunn homered for his 25th of the year.
"In St. Louis, we scored early and didn't add on," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "Tonight, we did."
Wilson left the April 28 game after six innings and 74 pitches with a 9-4 lead. Wilson never leaves a game without an argument, so his back had to aching. He was the victim of the first of the team-high four blown saves he has suffered.
That game was fresh enough in memory that when the Brewers closed to be 8-3 in the seventh inning, Miley and Wilson were thinking along the same lines.
"I don't know if I had flashbacks, but I didn't forget it," Miley said.
"I thought about it," Wilson said. "I kept trying to challenge hitters."
The Reds' offense, so anemic in St. Louis, came out smoking - well, for two batters at least.
D'Angelo Jimenez led off the game with a double into the right field corner. Larkin lined the next pitch into right for a single and a 1-0 lead.
It stayed 1-0 until the fifth inning, when Larkin beat out an infield single with two outs.
Griffey then crushed one that landed in the second deck above right field for his 20th home run of the year. Estimated distance: 415 feet.
The Reds broke it open in the fifth, with help from Wes Helms, the Brewers' third baseman. He committed back-to-back, two-base errors on sharply hit balls by Jason LaRue and Brandon Larson.
The Reds followed with four straight hits, including RBI singles from Wilson and Larkin and a two-run double from Griffey, to make it 8-0.
Wilson lost the shutout when Keith Ginter hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning. Wilson got the next two hitters, but after a walk and two hits - the second of which made it 8-3 - Gabe White was brought in.
Wilson allowed three runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out three.
"I wish I could have gone a little longer," Wilson said. "I'm not second-guessing Miley. But I wanted to save the bullpen with three more games to go with these guys."
Those three with the Brewers are big ones.
"Everyone knows the All-Star break is coming up," Griffey said. "We want to finish strong."
E-mail jfay@enquirer.com
| Cincinnati | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| DJimenez 2b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .259 |
| Larkin ss | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .293 |
| JCastro ss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .277 |
| Griffey Jr. cf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .252 |
| Dunn 1b-lf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .262 |
| WPena rf | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .260 |
| JaCruz lf | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .250 |
| TJones p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Graves p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| LaRue c | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .223 |
| Larson 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .208 |
| PWilson p | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .156 |
| GWhite p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Hummel 1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .272 |
| Totals | 39 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 7 | |
| Milwaukee | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Podsednik cf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .256 |
| Counsell ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .262 |
| Jenkins lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .251 |
| Overbay 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .337 |
| Grieve rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .290 |
| KGinter 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .260 |
| Helms 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .261 |
| GBennett c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .185 |
| BHall ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .248 |
| Moeller c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .246 |
| Obermueller p | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .381 |
| Burba p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Kinney p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Magruder ph | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| JBennett p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| BClark ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .248 |
| Totals | 35 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| Cincinnati | 100 | 025 | 010 | -9 | 10 | 0 |
| Milwaukee | 000 | 000 | 300 | -3 | 8 | 2 |
E-Helms 2 (8). LOB-Cincinnati 9, Milwaukee 8. 2B-DJimenez (14), Griffey Jr. (16), Jenkins (21), Overbay (36). HR-Dunn (25), off JBennett; KGinter (10), off PWilson; Griffey Jr. (20), off Obermueller. RBIs-Larkin 2 (33), Griffey Jr. 4 (59), Dunn (53), PWilson (2), Counsell (15), KGinter 2 (33).
| Cincinnati | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| PWilson
W, 9-2 | 6 2/3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 107 | 3.66 |
| GWhite | 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3.48 |
| TJones | 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3.38 |
| Graves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2.83 |
| Milwaukee | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| Obermueller
L, 3-5 | 5 1/3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 98 | 6.69 |
| Burba | 1 1/3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 3.61 |
| Kinney | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6.04 |
| JBennett | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 4.39 |
HBP-by TJones (Helms), by Burba (LaRue). WP-PWilson.
Umpires-Home, Crawford; First, Aschwege; Second, O'Nora; Third, Cuzzi. T-2:58. A-19,729 (41,900).
Return to Reds front page...
