Pirates 14, Reds 4

PITTSBURGH – Jason Kendall’s two-run double put Pittsburgh ahead during a seven-run sixth inning and the Pirates rallied from three runs down to beat the skidding Cincinnati Reds 14-4.

Jason Bay had two hits in the inning and Craig Wilson added a two-run single to help the Pirates overcome Cincinnati leads of 3-0 and 4-1 and win their 19th in 25 games. They have won 13 of 14 at home to move above .500 at PNC Park (24-23) for the first time since their opening series.

Barry Larkin homered among his three hits, moving him past Dave Conception into second place in Reds history with 2,327 hits, but Cincinnati still lost its fourth in a row on a five-game, two-city road trip that winds up Sunday. Cincinnati has lost 18 of 24 on the road.

Reds starter Aaron Harang (6-3) was 2-0 this season and 3-0 in his career against the Pirates, but he squandered the two leads by failing to retire any of the seven batters he faced in the turnaround sixth inning. Until that inning, Harang had allowed five earned runs in 30 innings – a 1.50 ERA – since sitting out three weeks with a sprained right elbow ligament.

The first seven Pirates batters reached base in the sixth, with Bay starting it with a double to left ahead of Tike Redman’s single and Randall Simon’s RBI single. First baseman Sean Casey’s throw to third was late on Jose Castillo’s sacrifice, loading the bases, and pinch-hitter Bobby Hill’s RBI single tied it at 4.

That brought on John Riedling, the second of four Reds pitchers in the inning, and Kendall greeted him with his two-run double. Wilson later added his two-run single off Ryan Wagner and Bay also singled in a run. Bay had three hits, including a two-run single in the seventh.

Rookie left-hander John Grabow (1-4), the third of the Pirates’ six pitchers, pitched a scoreless sixth inning for his first victory in 46 major league games.

The 40-year-old Larkin was largely responsible for the Reds’ early leads with a solo homer in the first off Josh Fogg, a double during a two-run third and a walk in the fourth, scoring each time. The two-run third was helped by two Pirates errors.

Fogg lasted only two-plus innings in one of Pittsburgh’s rare poor starts during the last month, giving up three runs and five hits. Pirates starters are 14-3 over the last 29 games, lasting at least six innings all but four times.

Notes: The Pirates’ biggest inning this season was a nine-run second against Montreal on July 9. … Pittsburgh has won its last 11 against the NL Central. … The sellout crowd of 37,752 for a 1979 World Series championship team reunion was the Pirates’ second in as many nights and their fourth of the season. Margaret Stargell, the wife of the late Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. … Pittsburgh has won four of its last five series at home and split the other. … Ryan Vogelsong replaced Fogg with the bases loaded and two runs in during then third and retired three straight batters. … Larkin trails Reds career hits leader Pete Rose by 1,031 hits.

AP-ES-07-24-04 2221EDT