Dunn's blast in 10th helps sink Pirates

PITTSBURGH -- It was a rough night for the bullpen with the worst ERA in the National League on Saturday. Reds relievers gave up six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings of work and gave up two leads in the later innings.

But the Reds offense hurt the Pirates 'pen more, as Adam Dunn capped a Cincinnati comeback with a go-ahead home run in the 10th to help the Reds overcome the bullpen's struggles in a 9-8 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.

The 10th got off to a good start when Brandon Phillips singled to lead off the inning. Dunn then followed with a mammoth blast to right-center off Pirates closer Matt Capps that gave the Reds a 9-7 lead.

Dunn said he wasn't looking to hit a home run, but was expecting to see a fastball with the speedy Phillips on base.

"I kind of figured I'd be getting a lot of fastballs because they're worried about Brandon stealing," Dunn said.

Even with a two-run lead, closer David Weathers made things interesting in the bottom half of the inning. He gave up a solo home run to the light-hitting Jack Wilson with one out, but got Xavier Nady and Freddy Sanchez to ground out to end the game and clinch the Reds' first road series victory since they swept the Braves from July 16-18.

Weathers' run was the sixth allowed by a bullpen whose performance can only be categorized as a meltdown. The troubles began from the first batter a Reds reliever faced. The bullpen came into play relatively early when Reds interim manager Pete Mackanin relieved starter Bobby Livingston with a runner on first and one out in the sixth and the Reds leading, 4-1.

Livingston had been solid to that point, allowing just one earned run on a Matt Morris home run, but he was throwing on three days' rest and his pitch count was nearing 100.

"Livingston gave us a great outing there," Mackanin said. "With three days' rest, we were trying to limit him to 90 or fewer pitches and he was at [97]. He did everything we wanted him to do on that type of rest.

"Then things didn't work out for a while."

Little worked out for Todd Coffey, who relieved Livingston. He gave up a home run on the third pitch he threw to Pirates slugger Jason Bay that trimmed the Reds lead to one.

Coffey hit the next batter, Jose Bautista, and struck out Jose Castillo before departing after he walked Ronny Paulino to put runners on first and second. With the light-hitting lefty Nate McLouth at the plate, Mackanin turned to left-hander Mike Gosling, who immediately gave up a no-doubt three-run shot to McLouth that put the Reds in a 6-4 hole.

From there the Reds offense kept scoring on the Pirates bullpen, but the Pirates offense continued to answer back. The Reds answered the Pirates five-run sixth with a run in the seventh keyed by Norris Hopper that Mackanin said was important to help stem Pittsburgh's momentum.

Hopper chased Morris with a one out double and then decided he was going to try and swipe third off Pirates reliever John Grabow.

"I knew the pitcher had a big leg kick and was slow to home, so I told myself, 'First pitch I'm going to take off and see what happens,'" Hopper said.

Hopper stole third and scurried home when Pirates catcher Ronny Paulino's throw went past third baseman Jose Castillo and into left field.

The Reds tied it in the eighth on a solo home run by Edwin Encarnacion, but the bullpen floundered again when Mike Stanton gave up a leadoff homer in the bottom half of the inning to Paulino that put the Reds down one and up against Pirates closer Matt Capps.

Capps hadn't blown a save since becoming the Pirates closer in the beginning of June, but Jeff Keppinger, who had entered the game in the eighth on a double switch, hit a home run that snuck inside the foul pole and barely made it to the seats in the left-field corner.

It was the latest big hit from Keppinger, who has hit .324 and produced whenever he has been on the field.

"Keppinger did a great job," Mackanin said. "He's certainly been doing everything we asked and more than we expected. He had a nice play at short and hit that home run, what can you say?"

Keppinger and Dunn's heroics were just part of a second consecutive strong day for the Reds offense. It scored at least one run in the final five innings, and Dunn was especially encouraged that the Reds continued to battle back and mounted a consistent offensive attack throughout the game.

"It seems like that's the first time we've done that all year," Dunn said. "For us to do it back-to-back games, hopefully, we can keep that up and make it a fun last two months."

One thing that hasn't been fun for Mackanin has been the problems with his pitching staff. The bullpen's rough night on Saturday could lead to a roster move being made.

"I'm sure that will be a topic of discussion when I talk to [general manager] Wayne [Krivsky] tonight or tomorrow," Mackanin said. "I don't want to go any further than that, but I'm sure there will be discussions on what we're going to do from here."