Vaughn, Reds Defeat Cubs

There's one person who can't explain why Greg Vaughn goes on home run binges. His name: Greg Vaughn.

Perhaps Vaughn, who has four homers in two games and seven in 21 at-bats, is just following the same advice he gives his son.

"I tell my son: `Don't worry about anything else when you get up there, see the ball and take a good swing,"' Vaughn said Wednesday after his 35th homer powered the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.

"Whatever it is, I just want it to keep going. I'm keeping it pretty simple. I find myself when things aren't going good asking if my hands are back and is my foot down. Too much stuff. Now I'm just seeing it and just trying to take a good hack at it."

Vaughn hit a two-run shot in the fifth off Andrew Lorraine (1-4), the Reds' 22nd homer in the last six games, including six against the Cubs in the nightcap Tuesday night.

"He's been a big addition to our club. He's always that threat in the lineup and when he gets hot, he can carry you," Reds manager Jack McKeon said.

"And when he's not so hot, he gets enough bases on balls to still be a contributing factor."

Cincinnati began the day three games behind Houston in the NL Central. The Reds remained 3 1/2 games back of New York, which beat San Francisco 7-5, for the wild card.

While Vaughn connected again, Sammy Sosa went homeless for a third straight game.

Sosa was 1-for-4 with an RBI single off reliever Dennys Reyes in the eighth. Sosa has 58 homers with 23 games remaining.

"They pitched me great," said Sosa, who these days has to explain after every game why he did or did not homer.

"To me Sammy is doing everything he can," said Vaughn, who hit 50 homers last season, 16 fewer than the Cubs' slugger.

"What else should he be doing? He's getting paid to be a run producer. He's scoring runs, hitting .300 and has 58 homers. If the season ended today, he's had another outstanding year. There is nothing else for him to do."

Steve Parris (8-2), in his second start since coming off the disabled list, got his first win since July 20. He allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings.

Danny Graves pitched the ninth for his 20th save.

The Reds scored three in the fourth, an inning that started with Cubs shortstop Jose Nieves' throwing error. Vaughn walked and a wild pitch moved the runners up before Aaron Boone hit an RBI single.

The Cubs chose to load the bases by intentionally walking Mike Cameron with one out, and No. 8 hitter Jason Larue delivered a two-run single.

Lance Johnson's RBI grounder gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the third.

Chicago made it 3-2 in the fourth when Mark Grace chugged around to score from first as Jeff Reed's fly ball went off Cameron's glove in center and was ruled a double.

But Vaughn homered in the fifth and the Cubs were on their way to their 30th loss in 38 games.

Dmitri Young added an RBI double in the Reds ninth. Jeff Blauser homered in the Cubs ninth, tying a team record with his third pinch-hit home run of the season.

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