Phils' Long Balls Baffle Reds

Pokey Reese lived up to his nickname in the ninth inning Wednesday night.

"It was a curveball away and I just poked it," Reese said of his tiebreaking two-run, two-out single that led the Cincinnati Reds over the Philadelphia Phillies 12-8.

The Reds, who trailed 7-1 after four innings and 8-3 after six, scored nine runs in the last three innings as the Phillies bullpen failed to save another solid outing from starter Chad Ogea.

Jeffrey Hammonds also had a two-run single in the ninth to end the Phillies' four-game winning streak.

Scott Rolen, Rico Brogna and Ron Gant hit consecutive home runs in the first inning for the Phillies. Gant's inside-the-park shot gave Philadelphia three in a row for the first time since Milt Thompson, Von Hayes and Mike Schmidt did it on July 26, 1987.

Rolen had a career-high four hits and Doug Glanville homered and drove in four runs for the Phillies.

With the score tied at 8, Jeff Brantley (1-1) walked Greg Vaughn leading off the ninth.

Pitcher Scott Williamson struck out trying to bunt, but Brantley, who recently came back from a shoulder problem, seemed to hurt himself and Ken Ryan relieved.

Barry Larkin walked, Eddie Taubensee flied out and Mark Lewis walked to load the bases before Reese and Hammonds followed with their hits.

Williamson (1-1) pitched three scoreless innings for his first major league win which came three days after his first major league save. He recorded five of Cincinnati's 15 strikeouts.

"He continues to do it for us," McKeon said. "We were only counting on letting him go one inning."

Phillies manager Terry Francona was obviously unhappy with his relef pitching.

"When you walk the first batter out of the bullpen, it always leads to trouble," Francona said. "That happened tonight."

Brett Tomko retired the first two Phillies batters before Rolen and Brogna homered. Gant hit a drive off the right-center field fence, and the ball bounced off the foot of center fielder Mike Cameron and rolled all the way into the right-field corner.

It was the third career inside-the-park home run for Gant, who was hitting just .121 and hitless in his previous 10 at-bats. The last Phillies player to hit an inside-the-park homer had been Juan Bell against the Cubs at Veterans Stadium on Sept. 24, 1992.

Cincinnati rallied for three runs in the eighth to tie it at 8. Lewis hit an RBI double, Reese had an RBI groundout and Cameron singled to tie it.

Ogea gave up four runs and seven hits in six-plus innings. He allowed two home runs, a solo shot by Taubensee that caromed off the facing of the upper deck in right field and a two-run homer by pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney in the fifth.

Vaughn hit a two-run double in the seventh that made it 8-5.

Tomko gave up seven runs and eight hits in his four innings, seeing his ERA climb to 7.76. He became the first Reds pitcher to give up four homers in a game since Jack Armstrong in 1991.

"He's got to kick it in gear," McKeon said. "You can't live on your past. We know he's better than that. He's going to have to start showing it."

Brantley, who has had arm problems in the past, was disconsolate after the game.

"I've got two words for you: disabled list," Brantley said. "I don't think there's any major problems but obviously something is up. I don't have any pain, just fatigue."

According to Brantley, his throwing motion has changed.

"I had to change the way I was throwing to get something on it," he said. "It just felt tired, yet I felt great this afternoon."

To replace Brantley, the Phillies purchased the contract of Steve Montgomery from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Montgomery has four saves in his seven chances this year with a 3.86 ERA in the minors.

Notes: Thompson, Hayes and Schmidt hit their consecutive homers off Atlanta's Doyle Alexander at Veterans Stadium. ... The last time the Reds surrendered three straight home runs was against the Mets on May 1, 1988. Dennis Rasmussen gave up homers to Tim Teufel and Keith Hernandez, and Pat Perry then gave one up to Darryl Strawberry. ... Reds outfielder Dmitri Young, mired in a 2-for-24 slump, was out of the starting lineup for the fifth time in the last six games. Young is 6-for-13 at Veterans Stadium with two doubles, a homer and four RBIs. He pinch-hit in the seventh inning, and walked and scored. He also struck out in the ninth. ... Philadelphia optioned catcher Bobby Estalella to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after his rehab assignment ended on Wednesday. He had offseason shouler surgery and had been working out in Clearwater, Fla. ... Phillies second baseman Marlon Anderson is still in a major slump. He is now has two hits in his last 22 at-bats.

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