By Kevin Kelly
Enquirer staff writer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos from today's game

Wily Mo Pena came to spring training this year unsure of his place with the Reds.

"I just tried to make the team," he said. "I didn't think they would give me the opportunity."

A confluence of factors since has led Pena to the opportunity of a lifetime.

With Ken Griffey Jr. out for the remainder of the season because of a torn hamstring, Pena becomes the Reds' best option in center field for the season's final 48 games.

"I don't know about that," he said. "I just have to keep working every day."

Pena isn't slipping into the role solely because of the circumstances.

As he has displayed often this season, as in Thursday's 6-5 win against the Dodgers before 27,416 fans at Great American Ball Park, Pena has done his share to create the opportunity.

The 22-year-old, who spent much of last season coming off the bench, hit an opposite-field two-run home run that tied Thursday's game in the eighth inning.

Second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez drove in the game-winning run with a single later in the inning.

"That home run by Wily Mo brought us back to life again," Jimenez said.

The Reds utilized all but one of their available position players and got five scoreless innings of relief from their bullpen.

Reliever Gabe White got the win after he came on with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning and induced an inning-ending double play.

"This one is about as much a team effort as you can get," left fielder Adam Dunn said. "It was just a great game for us."

The victory shifted the focus from the loss of Griffey and an ugly 11-1 defeat the previous evening.

"It was obviously a nice way to rebound after (Wednesday) night's game and the news we got," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "It was a team effort."

Pitcher Josh Hancock, acquired from the Phillies on June 30, made his first start for the Reds and allowed three earned runs over four innings.

"Both myself and (pitching coach) Don Gullett liked what we saw," Miley said. "He's got some good stuff."

All three of Hancock's earned runs came in the third inning. Left fielder Jason Grabowski hit a two-run homer, and third baseman Adrian Beltre added a solo home run during the inning.

"I made two mistakes, and big-league hitters take advantage of mistakes," Hancock said. "That's what they did."

The Reds scored two in the fourth to make it a 3-2 game, but Los Angles answered with two more in the fifth inning.

After Dodgers starter Wilson Alvarez was pulled with one out in the sixth, Reds pinch hitter Jacob Cruz delivered a run-scoring single to make it a 5-3 game.

The normally reliable Dodgers bullpen allowed the Reds to take the lead in the eighth.

Dunn drew a leadoff walk to bring up Pena against the hard-throwing Darren Dreifort.

Pena entered the game batting .278 with 17 home runs and 45 RBI in his previous 64 games and was 1-for-3 in the game.

"When they (throw) inside, I now know they're also going to go away," said Pena, who, like Dunn, has thrived under hitting coach Chris Chambliss this season. "So I'm just waiting for a fastball away.

"Last year I didn't know that. This year is a lot different."

Pena drove the first pitch he saw into the right-field Sun Deck to tie the game.

"People don't realize how much improvement he's made in a very short amount of time," Dunn said. "I think Chris has a lot to do with that. He's going the other way so much more. He just looks like he has a better clue."

A pinch-hit single by Barry Larkin put the go-ahead run on base. Ryan Freel pinch ran for Larkin and was at third when Jimenez came to bat.

He hit a 98 mph fastball from Dreifort into right field to score Freel, putting the Reds ahead 6-5.

"People like that, when they throw the ball so hard, you just try to put the bat on the ball and see what happens," Jimenez said.

Danny Graves pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 36th save this season as the Reds avoided a sweep.

"With Junior out, we have to step up and play hard each game," Jimenez said. "Hopefully we can turn it around a little bit and get more wins."

Los Angeles	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Izturis ss	5	2	1	0	0	1	.294
Grabowski lf	4	2	2	2	0	0	.252
Werth lf	1	0	0	0	0	1	.270
SFinley cf	5	0	1	0	0	1	.286
Beltre 3b	4	1	2	2	1	1	.325
ShGreen rf	4	0	0	1	0	1	.264
Choi 1b	2	0	0	0	2	0	.264
Cora 2b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.296
Mayne c	2	0	1	0	2	0	.248
WAlvarez p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.167
Carrara p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ventura ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.223
Dreifort p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Brazoban p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Totals	33	5	7	5	6	7

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DJimenez 2b-ss	5	0	1	1	0	1	.253
FLopez ss	3	0	1	0	1	1	.267
GWhite p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Vander Wal ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.171
Graves p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Casey 1b	4	1	1	0	0	0	.337
Dunn lf	3	3	2	0	1	1	.282
WPena cf	4	1	2	2	0	1	.265
LaRue c	3	0	0	1	0	1	.245
JCastro 3b	2	0	1	1	0	0	.237
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JaCruz ph	1	0	1	1	0	0	.237
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Larkin ss	1	0	1	0	0	0	.308
Freel pr-2b	0	1	0	0	0	0	.280
Bragg rf	3	0	0	0	1	0	.100
Hancock p	1	0	1	0	0	0	.333
Hummel 3b	2	0	0	0	0	0	.220
Totals	33	6	11	6	3	6

Los Angeles	003	020	000	-5	7	0
Cincinnati	000	201	03x	-6	11	1

E-Hancock (1). LOB-Los Angeles 8, Cincinnati 8. 2B-Dunn (22). HR-WPena (19), off Dreifort; Beltre (32), off Hancock; Grabowski (7), off Hancock. RBIs-Grabowski 2 (19), Beltre 2 (79), ShGreen (62), DJimenez (41), WPena 2 (52), LaRue (40), JCastro (15), JaCruz (22). S-WAlvarez. SF-LaRue. GIDP-Izturis, DJimenez.

DP-Los Angeles 1 (Beltre, Cora and Choi); Cincinnati 1 (Larkin, DJimenez and Casey).

Los Angeles	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
WAlvarez	5 1/3	6	3	3	0	4	100	3.42
Carrara H, 3	1 2/3	2	0	0	1	1	27	1.07
Dreifort L, 1-3	BS, 3 1/3	2	3	3	2	0	17	4.22
Brazoban	2/3	1	0	0	0	1	11	2.45

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Hancock	4	5	5	3	2	4	84	8.04
PNorton	2	2	0	0	0	1	26	4.50
Riedling	1 1/3	0	0	0	4	0	37	4.27
GWhite W, 1-1	2/3	0	0	0	0	0	1	7.56
Graves S, 36	1	0	0	0	0	2	9	3.05

Hancock pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.

Inherited runners-scored-Carrara 1-1, Brazoban 2-1, GWhite 3-0, PNorton 2-2.

HBP-by WAlvarez (Hummel).

T-3:08. A-27,416 (42,271).