By John Erardi
Enquirer staff writer
Even when Adam Dunn is bad, he is good. He's the kind of guy to keep a dugout loose and laughing.
On the same night that Dunn scorched a laser of a home run (No. 46) into the deepest right-center field corner of the Moon Deck - it never seemed to get more than 15 feet off the ground - he also took a called third strike (his 192nd K of the season) and dropped a fly ball that he lost in the lights, and failed to run out a pop-fly that landed smack on the right-field line and (fortunately for him) bounced into the right-field seats in foul territory for a ground-rule double.
"I thought he was coming back to the dugout to get a new bat," said a laughing Sean Casey, of Dunn's failure to leave the box until he noticed at the last second that the ball was going to land fair.
"Hey, give me some credit - that was good hitting," said Dunn, cracking himself up.
The Reds were loose - four consecutive victories, this one a 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates before 26,841 fans (8,098 walkups) at Great American Ball Park.
Dunn's teammates gave him a good-natured ribbing after he and Austin Kearns came around to score on Juan Castro's two-run double in the fourth inning. Castro was a late entry in the starting lineup after D'Angelo Jimenez hurt his right thumb.
Also having a memorable night was Barry Larkin, making what might be the penultimate appearance of his career as a Red. (He's scheduled to start again Sunday.) In the seventh inning, Larkin hit a solo home run into the right-center Moon Deck and got a standing ovation from the fans. He took the curtain call, and the applause got even louder.
"The fans have been great," Larkin said. "It seems like they want me back. We'll have to see what happens."
After the home run, Larkin pointed appreciatively to his father, Robert. Barry said it was the first time his father had been to a game since the ordeal of him not playing began, and that his mother, Shirley, hasn't been back at all.
Paul Wilson (11-6) got the complete-game victory, the first of his career. He threw a five-hitter, with seven K's.
Larkin got off the best line of the night:
"I'd love to play behind Paul next year - wherever that might be," he said.
Judging by the fans' reaction, they want both of these free agents in Cincinnati red next year.
| Pittsburgh | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Kendall c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .319 |
| JWilson ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .309 |
| Corey p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Bay lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .288 |
| Mackowiak rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .247 |
| CWilson 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .262 |
| TRedman cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .279 |
| Wigginton 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .261 |
| Sanchez 2b-ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .188 |
| DWilliams p | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .111 |
| ANunez ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .238 |
| Grabow p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Brooks p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Hill ph-2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 |
| Totals | 33 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| Cincinnati | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| FLopez 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .246 |
| Larkin ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .288 |
| Casey 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .325 |
| Kearns rf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .239 |
| Dunn lf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .266 |
| JCastro 2b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| LaRue c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .254 |
| Bragg cf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .181 |
| PWilson p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .100 |
| Totals | 32 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 12 | |
| Pittsburgh | 000 | 000 | 100 | -1 | 5 | 0 |
| Cincinnati | 020 | 200 | 10x | -5 | 8 | 2 |