By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

Sean Casey is well on his way to a career high for home runs and he's done it without even trying.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game

"I've never tried to hit home runs," he said. "Well, I shouldn't say never. But every time I did, I popped up."

Casey's game-winning home run in Thursday's 1-0 victory over St. Louis was his 21st of the year. His career-high is 25. He did that in 1999, his first full year in the big leagues. He hit 20 the next year, then 13 in 2001, six in 2002 and 14 last year.

"I'm not a 40, 50 home run guy," he said. "I don't have that kind of swing. I'm a line-drive, gap hitter."

Being that type of hitter, Casey says, is evident in his doubles total. He hit 40 in 2001. He was hurt in 2002 and still hit 25.

Last year, he only hit 19.

"That's weird," he said. "I wasn't driving the ball."

He had 39 doubles going into Friday's game. That puts him on pace for 50 - one shy of the club record shared by Frank Robinson (1962) and Pete Rose (1978).

"I live for doubles," Casey said. "Home runs are definitely nice but I don't consider myself a home run hitter."

READY TO GO: Paul Wilson passed his final test on his way back from the lower back injury that landed him on the disabled list.

Wilson threw three innings in a simulated game Friday afternoon.

"Everything was fine," Wilson said. "I'm ready to rock Wednesday in the Businessman's Special."

Wilson, 9-4 with a 4.54 ERA, will return to the starting rotation Wednesday in the series finale against the Houston Astros at 12:35 p.m.

Wilson has been impressed by the way the Reds' young starters have thrown in his absence.

"The kids have thrown great," he said. "It's been fun to watch. I want to get out there and have some fun, too."

Wilson went on the DL Aug. 14. The back is fine.

"It's been good since I got the cortisone shot," he said.

WILY MO'S BACK: Wily Mo Pena returned to the starting lineup Friday after missing five starts with a sore left wrist.

"It feels good now," he said. "Thursday, I felt it a little bit."

WEB GEM: Austin Kearns' diving catch of Edgar Renteria's line drive in the eighth inning Thursday topped ESPN's Web Gems for the day.

Kearns rated it as one of his best catches, along with the one he made last year in Cleveland.

"When I ran into the wall," he said.

Kearns thinks twice about diving. Remember, he had shoulder surgery last May.

"I've been a little hesitant because of my shoulder and my thumb," he said. "That's how I originally tore the ligament in my thumb."

FARM REPORT: Left-hander Joe Wilson, who gave up 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings his last time out, bounced back nicely Thursday.

Wilson, one of the players obtained in the Cory Lidle trade, allowed an unearned run on three hits in six innings in Single-A Dayton's 3-2 loss to Burlington. Center fielder Javon Moran, one of the other players in the trade, went 4-for-5 in the game. He's hitting .373 since the trade.

BONG REPORT: Left-hander Jung Keun Bong, rehabbing at Sarasota, gave up five runs in one inning in a start for the Gulf Coast Reds.

FARM STARS: Chattanooga first baseman Jesse Gutierrez, third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, second baseman William Bergolla and right-hander Brian Rose were named to the Southern League postseason all-star team.

Chattanooga was the only club to have four players selected.

UP NEXT: The Reds play the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second game of the series today at 7:10 p.m.

REDS FACT: Today's starter, Jose Acevedo, has a 0.00 ERA in four relief outings this season, covering six innings.

Reds statistics

(Through Friday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.337	.393	442	82	149	40	2	21	82	38	28	1	0	6
Larkin	.304	.354	316	54	96	15	3	7	42	26	36	2	0	4
Dunn	.275	.402	443	84	122	26	0	38	80	89	149	4	1	5
Freel	.273	.377	395	53	108	15	5	1	22	56	68	28	8	12
Jimenez	.260	.356	450	58	117	20	2	10	50	66	77	11	7	6
Griffey	.253	.351	300	49	76	18	0	20	60	44	67	1	0	1
Pena	.253	.305	289	36	73	8	1	22	57	17	96	4	1	6
LaRue	.251	.334	323	41	81	18	2	13	42	23	86	0	2	8
Castro	.245	.276	245	29	60	19	2	3	19	11	41	1	0	8
Lopez	.241	.305	137	19	33	11	0	4	17	12	42	0	0	9
Cruz	.240	.324	121	18	29	7	0	3	24	11	34	0	0	0
Valentin	.217	.277	157	15	34	7	1	5	16	13	27	0	0	4
Larson	.212	.304	118	13	25	6	0	3	14	14	35	1	0	5
Kearns	.208	.328	101	13	21	3	1	3	13	17	35	1	1	1
Bragg	.191	.255	47	7	9	3	0	2	4	4	17	0	0	0
Romano	.154	.214	26	3	4	0	0	1	3	2	10	0	0	0
Vander Wal	.143	.182	42	2	6	2	0	2	4	2	17	0	0	0
Team Totals	.252	.333	4326	595	1090	228	19	159	566	469	1020	56	20	83

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Hudson	1	1	3.63	3	3	0	17.1	18	8	7	1	7	12
Graves	1	5	4.09	61	0	37	61.2	68	33	28	12	11	38
Harang	8	6	4.14	22	22	0	128.1	135	61	59	11	43	101
Norton	1	3	4.50	56	0	0	54.0	56	31	27	4	26	36
Wilson	9	4	4.54	23	23	0	142.2	157	76	72	22	51	92
Riedling	4	3	4.57	56	0	0	63.0	66	40	32	7	32	33
Wagner	2	1	4.57	39	0	0	41.1	45	25	21	4	25	26
Claussen	2	3	5.14	8	8	0	42.0	43	27	24	6	20	23
Hancock	3	1	5.72	10	5	0	28.1	36	20	18	9	11	15
Van Poppel	3	5	6.11	32	10	0	94.1	111	65	64	16	20	60
Acevedo	5	10	6.21	27	23	0	130.1	155	93	90	24	40	99
White	1	1	6.37	29	0	0	29.2	30	21	21	11	4	25
Valentine	1	3	7.71	8	1	1	11.2	11	10	10	2	12	8
Matthews	2	1	8.84	22	0	0	18.1	23	19	18	6	10	8
Team Totals	61	66	5.16	127	127	39	1130.2	1251	703	648	175	423	752