Vaughn 100 RBIs In Reds' Win

They win with homers. They win with singles. The only thing the Cincinnati Reds can't do these days is win enough to move up in the NL Central.

Greg Vaughn drove in a pair of runs, becoming the first Cincinnati player to reach 100 RBIs in 10 years, as the Reds beat the Florida Marlins 11-5 Sunday for their sixth straight win.

After setting various records by hitting 29 homers in their last nine games, the Reds didn't challenge the walls Sean Casey's fly to the warning track was the only close call. They still won going away.

"That's definitely one of the strengths of this team, the versatility our lineup brings," Boone said. "There's not really any breaks throughout our lineup. We're not the '27 Yankees we understand that. At the same time, we've got power and speed."

The second-place Reds have won nine of 10 but remained three games behind Houston in the NL Central with 19 left. The Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 7-1 Sunday for their 10th straight win.

"I think we can ride this thing out to the bitter end ourselves," outfielder Dmitri Young said. "If the Astros are going to take it, thy'll have to play .900 ball the rest of the month."

Cincinnati has scored 27 runs in the first three games of the series, which concludes Monday. The Marlins have lost their last nine games at Cincinnati during the past two seasons.

A day after giving up four homers in a 12-4 drubbing, the Marlins made it easy for Cincinnati by committing three errors in the infield and extending the Reds' two big rallies.

"Last night we didn't play as poorly as today," manager John Boles said. "Today was just a culmination of Keystone Cops. We had a bad day defensively in the infield."

Vaughn, acquired from San Diego in an offseason trade for Reggie Sanders, had a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring single off A.J. Burnett (2-2) that put the Reds ahead to stay 3-2 in the third inning.

Vaughn became the first Reds player to reach 100 RBIs in a season since Eric Davis had 101 in 1989. Vaughn also has 37 homers, the most by a Red since Davis hit the same number in 1987.

"People always talk about hitting .300, driving in 100 runs and hitting 40 or 50 homers. If you just play to win, all the rest of the stuff will take care of itself," said Vaughn, who drove in 119 runs last season to help the Padres reach the World Series.

Florida's Preston Wilson hit his 25th homer off Ron Villone (8-6), a solo shot gave him the fourth-highest total by a NL rookie in the last 25 years. Todd Helton also hit 25 last year.

Two Reds starters left the game with minor injuries. Second baseman Pokey Reese had spasms in his lower back and came out after the first inning, and Young got a tight left hamstring while running the bases in the fifth.

Instead of reaching the outfield seats, the Reds won with a minimalist approach: 10 singles among 13 hits, two sacrifice flies, six walks, two stolen bases and three Marlins errors. The Reds batted around in the fifth and sixth innings, with Marlins errors extending both rallies.

Wilson's solo homer in the sixth added to his record for a Marlins rookie. Wilson has gone 10-for-22 in his last six games with four homers.

Notes