Wilson wins 8th against Indians



Danny Graves pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 31st save.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Paul Wilson regained control of his fastball and returned to his winning ways.
Wilson pitched effectively into the seventh inning to win for the first time in more than a month, and the Cincinnati Reds rebounded from their worst loss of the season with a 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.
Since improving to 7-0 on May 25, Wilson lost his last two starts and had three no-decisions -- leaving with leads each time only to have the bullpen spoil the outing.
"I knew what I had to do," Wilson said.
"I had to do what got me there. I made a concerted effort over the last couple of weeks to get my fastball down. It had been running more than I wanted. Tonight, I felt like I got it back down there."
Now 8-2
Wilson (8-2), who matched his career high for wins set last season, allowed two runs and eight hits in 62/3 innings.
He struck out six and walked two, one intentional.
"Obviously, I don't keep score," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "How many walks did he allow? That's where Willie gets beat. He'd be the first to admit that that's where he gets into trouble. It's a big key for him.
"It was nice to see him get that eighth win," Miley added. "He's been trying for the last couple-three starts. That was exactly what we needed tonight."
Danny Graves pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 31st save in 38 opportunities.
Scott Elarton (0-1) lost for the first time in his fifth start for Cleveland. He gave up five hits and four runs -- three earned -- with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
Elarton threw 37 pitches in the first inning as the Reds scored three times.
Barry Larkin reached first on Casey Blake's one-out error, a call that Indians manager Eric Wedge briefly argued with first base umpire Jerry Meals, and Jimenez followed with his sixth homer down the right-field line and into the Cleveland bullpen.
Unhappy
"Everybody in the stadium knew Larkin was out except one guy," Elarton said. "Obviously, I threw a bad pitch to Jimenez. My command was not an issue in the first."
Adam Dunn walked, moved to second on Wily Mo Pena's single to right and scored on Jason LaRue's single to center field that Coco Crisp almost caught with a diving effort.
"After that, [Elarton] threw very well," Wedge said. "He struggled with his command, but he got it straightened out and gave us a great effort for six innings."
Miley was happy to see the Reds convert an early scoring opportunity.
"It was nice to get that three-spot, because you figure you're going to get a good outing out of Willie," he said.
The Reds made it 4-0 in the fourth when Javier Valentin drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on Wilson's one-out sacrifice and scored on Ryan Freel's single to left.
Cleveland broke up the shutout in the fifth on Elarton's one-out single to right and Omar Vizquel's two-out triple to center field, a sinking liner that skipped under the diving Freel's glove and rolled to the wall.
Matt Lawton cut the deficit to two runs with his 13th homer in the seventh.
CLEVELANDCINCINNATI
abrhbiabrhbi
Lawton lf5111Freel cf4021
Vizquel ss4021Larkin ss4100
Hafner 1b3000DJmnz 2b4112
VMrtnz c4010Dunn lf3100
Gerut rf4010WPena rf4020
Blake 3b3010LaRue c4011
Crisp cf4010Vlentin 1b2100
Blliard 2b3000JCastro 3b3010
Elarton p2110PWilsn p1000
Merloni ph1000GWhite p0000
RiWhte p0000JaCruz ph1000
Rbrtsn p0000TJones p0000
Miller p0000Graves p0000
Brssrd ph1000
Totals34282Totals30474
Cleveland000010100--2
Cincinnati30010000x--4
E--Blake (11). LOB--Cleveland 8, Cincinnati 5. 2B--VMartinez (25), Gerut (21), JCastro (12). 3B--Vizquel (1). HR--Lawton (13), DJimenez (6). SB--Crisp (11), WPena (3). S--PWilson.
IPHRERBBSO
Cleveland
Elarton L,0-1654324
RiWhite110000
Robertson2-300000
Miller1-310001
Cincinnati
PWilson W,8-26 2-382226
GWhite1-300000
TJones100011
Graves S,31100000
Umpires--Home, Ed Montague; First, Jerry Meals; Second, Derryl Cousins; Third, Paul Schrieber. T--2:48. A--38,708.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.