Reds 12, Pirates 11

It took 3 hours and 30 minutes but the Reds beat the Pirates 12-11 Saturday at Ed Smith Stadium.

"I knew it would be a high-scoring game with that wind," Dusty Baker said.

The Reds won it with two runs in the ninth after the Pirates scored four in the top of tne ninth. The game ended when Scott Hatteberg's bloop dropped between two outfielders along the left field line.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run home run to left-center, a high bomb. An out, Adam Dunn took one out to right.

And back and forth we went from there.

Aaron Harang worked a 1-2-3 first, however, he walked a batter and gave up back-to-back doubles in the second to make it 3-2.

The Reds scored a run on back-to-back singles from Andy Phillips and Javy Valentin and a Pirate error. Juan Castro drove in another run. It was 5-2 after 2.

Left-hander Matt Maloney followed Harang. Maloney gave up two in the third on a walk, rocket double by Andrew McCutchen and a Xavier Nady single. Maloney walked two to start the fourth. He was replaced by Tyler Pelland. The inherited runners scored on a sacrifice, a sac fly and a hit. That made it 6-5..

Maloney came in the clubhouse as we were talking to Aaron Harang. "That's the worst I've ever thrown a baseball," he said.

Harang, by the by, was cordial and filled our notebooks following a how-did-it-go-out-there question.

Josh Roenicke pitched a 1-2-3 fifth with two strikeouts.

The Reds tied it on Drew Anderson's RBI single in the fifth.

Gary Majewski kept it tied through the sixth. But Jared Burton gave up a home run to Steve Pearce in the seventh.

The Redlegs took the lead back in the seventh. Sac fly from Andy Green, RBI triple for Drew Anderson.

Chris Dickerson hit a two-run bomb in the eighth to make it 10-7.

Jim Brower, Jon Coutlangus and Jon Adkins combined to give the lead away in the ninth.

But Craig Tatum doubled in a run for the Reds. He scored on Hatteberg's hit.