By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

Adam Dunn is congratulated by teamamtes Sean Casey, Paul Wilson and starting pitcher Aaron Harang (back) after he hit an estimated 501 foot homerun in the fourth inning. The Enquirer/JEFF SWINGER

It's pretty much never been Lima Time against the Reds. Until Tuesday night, that is.

Jose Lima, the musician/dancer/pitcher, pitched eight strong innings to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Reds 5-2 before a crowd of 26,295 at Great American Ball Park.

Other than a very, very loud home run by Adam Dunn, the Reds went quietly all night long.

The Reds simply cannot maintain any momentum. They've only won two in a row twice since the All-Star break. They are back to a season-high four games under .500 at 54-58.

"That ought to tell you how bad we're scuffling right now," Dunn said. "Everyone wants to talk about a home run that didn't mean anything."

Lima was 1-6 with a 6.47 ERA in his previous 14 appearances against the Reds.

Tuesday, he didn't look like that kind of pitcher at all. He faced only two batters over minimum in his last seven innings. Lima (11-3) went eight innings, allowing the two runs on five hits.

"He's always known how to pitch," Reds manager Dave Miley said.

"He spots the ball, keeps the ball down, uses all of his pitches."

Reds starter Aaron Harang (7-4) wasn't nearly as sharp, allowing five runs on six hits in six innings.

For Harang , who gave up two home runs, it was the first time in 16 starts that he gave up more than one home run in a game.

"That's going to happen," Harang said. "I made a couple of mistakes and ended up paying for them in the end."

Dunn's 35th home run of the year was what this game will be remembered for. The ball cleared the 32-foot-high batter's eye in right-center field and ended up in the Ohio River. Dunn's shot, which traveled an estimated 535 feet, was the longest in Great American history. The ball bounced on Mehring Way before bouncing into the river.

Barry Larkin thought it might have gone farther than 535.

"You a need a physicist to figure out how far it would have gone," Larkin said.

The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the first. Ryan Freel led off with a bunt single. Larkin, in his first start in 17 days, rifled one to the wall in the left field for a double. Freel scored easily.

(Freel would later leave the game with a sore right knee He is day-to-day).

Larkin, who missed those games because of a strained oblique muscle, showed he was healthy in the second by ranging far to his left to field a grounder off the bat of Joey Cora. Larkin got him with a strong throw in a highlight reel play.

"I really tested it there," Larkin said. "I got through it."

The Dodgers took the lead in the third. Brent Mayne led off with a single. Two outs later, Steve Finley hit his first home run as a Dodger - a towering shot to right that was just inside the foul pole.

"It wasn't that bad of a pitch," Harang said. "I wanted it in a little more, but it on was the inner third of the plate."

The Dodgers scored two in the third with aggressive base-running and solid situation hitting.

Adrian Beltre walked to start the inning. Shawn Green followed with a single. When Dunn threw to third to try to get Beltre, Green went to second. Hee Seop Choi's long fly got Beltre home and Green to third. Cora's suicide squeeze bunt scored Green to make it 4-1.

"We sniffed the squeeze," Miley said. "But we had a miscommunication on signs."

That qualified it as a rough start for Harang. Consider: In his previous seven starts since coming off the disabled list June 25, he had given up two or fewer runs in six of them.

Dunn got the Reds within two by leading off the fourth with his monster shot.

The Dodgers pushed lead back to three in the sixth. Beltre led off the inning with his 31st of the year - a shot to straightaway center.

Lima and super closer Eric Gagne (1-2-3 ninth) never gave the Reds a sniff of a comeback.

Los Angeles	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Izturis ss	5	0	0	0	0	0	.296
SFinley cf	4	1	2	2	0	1	.282
Bradley lf	3	0	0	0	1	2	.275
Beltre 3b	3	2	1	1	1	1	.324
ShGreen rf	4	1	2	0	0	2	.266
Choi 1b	2	0	0	1	0	1	.266
Cora 2b	3	0	1	1	0	0	.300
Mayne c	4	1	1	0	0	0	.243
Lima p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.156
b-Grabowski ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.244
Gagne p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	31	5	7	5	2	9

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel rf	2	1	1	0	0	0	.280
JaCruz rf	2	0	0	0	0	1	.236
Larkin ss	4	0	2	1	0	0	.303
Casey 1b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.339
Dunn lf	4	1	1	1	0	0	.279
WPena cf	3	0	0	0	0	0	.265
DJimenez 2b	3	0	0	0	0	1	.256
LaRue c	3	0	1	0	0	1	.247
JCastro 3b	3	0	0	0	0	0	.236
Harang p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.026
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
a-Vander Wal ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.182
JoAcevedo p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.056
Totals	31	2	5	2	0	4

Los Angeles	002	201	000	-5	7	0
Cincinnati	100	100	000	-2	5	0

a-popped out for Norton in the 8th. b-struck out for Lima in the 9th.

LOB-Los Angeles 5, Cincinnati 2. 2B-SFinley (20), Larkin (14), LaRue (15). HR-Beltre (31), off Harang; Dunn (35), off Lima; SFinley (24), off Harang. RBIs-SFinley 2 (51), Beltre (77), Choi (42), Cora (32), Larkin (41), Dunn (72). SB-Cora (3). CS-ShGreen (1). S-Cora, Lima. SF-Choi. GIDP-Dunn.

Runners left in scoring position-Los Angeles 2 (Bradley, Lima); Cincinnati 2 (WPena, Harang).

DP-Los Angeles 1 (Cora, Izturis and Choi); Cincinnati 1 (LaRue and Larkin).

Los Angeles	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Lima W, 11-3	8	5	2	2	0	4	105	3.89
Gagne S, 34	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1.61

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Harang L, 7-4	6	6	5	5	2	7	103	4.49
PNorton	2	1	0	0	0	1	34	4.69
JoAcevedo	1	0	0	0	0	1	10	6.30

HBP-by PNorton (Choi).

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

T-2:19. A-26,295 (42,271).