By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

Cincinnati Reds' Adam Dunn swings for a three run home run off San Francisco Giants' Brett Tomko in the third inning. (AP photo)

SAN FRANCISCO - The Reds figured a surefire way to overcome a rough night for their pitching staff: Hit early and often.

The Reds pounded an 8-7 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 40,095 at SBC Park Wednesday night.

Ken Griffey Jr. returned to the starting lineup. He played only four innings - in right field, not center - before leaving the game with stiffness in his right hamstring. He was taken out for precautionary reasons.

Eight Reds had at least one hit. Adam Dunn homered twice, giving him 31 for the year. Felipe Lopez, in the lineup after Griffey left, also homered. His two-run shot in the sixth gave the Reds the lead for good after they had squandered a 5-1 advantage.

The victory was only the Reds' second in the last 13 games and broke a six-game road losing streak.

The Reds won despite the fact that Jose Acevedo's numbing string of bad starts continued. Acevedo went 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits.

He allowed four straight batters to reach with two outs in the fifth. Had he gotten out any of the four, he would have made it out of the inning with the lead. Acevedo is 1-7 with an 8.89 ERA in his last 12 starts.

Sean Casey started the third inning by lining one off San Francisco starter Brett Tomko. After a visit from the trainers, he stayed in the game. Griffey followed with a shot to left that went off Barry Bonds' glove for a double. The double was the 400th of Griffey's career.

Dunn drove one to the deepest part of the ballpark. It cleared the fence just left of the 421-foot mark in right-center. The home run was the 30th of the year for Dunn. He becomes the fourth player in Reds history to hit 30 home runs in a season before reaching the age of 25. Gus Bell, Frank Robinson and Johnny Bench are the others.

The Reds made it 4-0 in the fourth on Casey's RBI double, but the Giants broke through in the fourth for a run off Acevedo.

Dunn got the run back when he hit Tomko's second pitch of the fifth onto the walkway high above the 365-foot mark in straightaway right field.

Then came the disastrous fifth for Acevedo.

With Griffey in right, Wily Mo Pena started in center field.

Reds manager Dave Miley did not say whether the move was permanent.

"We're going to basically play it by ear and go from there," Miley said. "It will be for at least the rest of the trip."

The Reds go from SBC Park here to Coors Field in Denver.

Meanwhile, Barry Larkin, who has not started since July 24 because of a muscle strain in his side, continues to rest in hopes of starting Friday at Colorado.