Reds 12 (or 15), Yankees 8

Was it 12-8 or 15-8? The scoreboard said 15-8 at the end. But officially it was 12-8.

How so?

The Reds beat the Yankees 12-8 Thursday at Ed Smith Stadium. But the Yankees wanted to play an extra half of inning to get pitcher Steven Jackson work. Chris Dickerson hit a three-run homer in the extra half. That doesn't count in the official box score.

The Reds have won three straight to go to 5-4.

The Reds scored six in the first, four in the fourth and two in the sixth.

"A lot of clutch hitting," Dusty Baker said. "That was good to see."

Edwin Encarnacion had a two-run single in the first and a grand slam in the fourth. he wasn't swinging that well coming in.

"So-so," Baker said. "He's a little behind the other guys. But he's a clutch man. He rises to the occasion."

It was a shutout until Matt Maloney gave up four seventh. Alexander Smit gave up four more in the eighth.


The Reds scored a touchdown in the first. Norris Hopper led off with a hit. Jeff Keppinger singled with the hit-and-run on. Ken Griffey Jr. walked. Adam Dunn went the opposite way to single Hopper in. Edwin Encarnacion got two more in with a single to left. Scott Hatteberg popped out. Joey Votto walked to reload the bases. Javy Valentin smoked one to right that Abreu ran down. Dunn scored to make it 4-0. Andy Green doubled in another run. Hopper singled Votto in.

That was it for New York starter Chien-Ming Wang.

Encarnacion made it 10-0 with a slam in the fourth.

Good outing by Aaron Harang. He gave up a broken-bat double to Johnnny Damon to start the game. Damon went to third on Jose Molina's groundout. But Harang struck out Bobby Abreu and got Jason Giambi to pop up.

Harang's line: 3 IP, 2 hits, 2 strikeouts.

Francisco Cordero pitched a perfect fourth, striking out two. David Weathers and Mike Stanton followed 1-2-3 innings.

Maloney got lit up in the seventh: Abreu led off with home run. Maloney ended up giving up four runs on four hits.

Smit did no better. He gave up a grand slam to Greg Porter in the eighth.

There was a star-studded group around the batting cage before the game. I saw Jim Maloney talking to Yogi Berra. Johnny Bench and Eric Davis were their. Davis looks like he could still play. With age, his waist has expanded all the way to 32 is my guess.