Pena's pinch-hit grand slam helps Reds rally past Pirates
Wily Mo Pena got the biggest hit in his career to give Cincinnati a 6-4 win.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Wily Mo Pena sure relished the biggest hit of his career.
Pena came through with a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning, capping a six-run rally that sent the Cincinnati Reds past the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 Friday night.
"I hit a grand slam earlier this year, but this is the biggest because we won the game and my team's happy," Pena said.
Before the game, the Reds honored Ken Griffey Jr. for hitting his 500th home run last Sunday in St. Louis. The ceremony included a video montage of some of his most noteworthy home runs and other career highlights. Fireworks greeted the replay of No. 500.
Griffey went 0-for-3 with a walk to fall to 1-for-19 since his historic home run. He's hitless in his last 16 at-bats.
Climb out of 4-0 hole
But Pena gave the Reds their sixth consecutive two-out hit in the seventh as Cincinnati wiped out a 4-0 Pittsburgh lead and sent the Pirates to their 16th loss in 19 games.
"Strange things are happening around here," said Pittsburgh starter Kip Wells, who took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning but wound up with a no-decision.
It was Pena's second slam of the season and seventh homer overall. It also was the first pinch-hit grand slam by a Reds batter since Russell Branyan connected off Milwaukee's Brooks Kieschnick last July 21.
Jason LaRue started the rally with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on Juan Castro's single to right. Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon replaced Wells with Brian Meadows, and Tim Hummel and pinch-hitter Jermaine Clark each hit a run-scoring single.
Salomon Torres (4-3) came in, walked Ryan Freel and was replaced by left-hander Mike Gonzalez. Reds manager Dave Miley sent up Pena to bat for switch-hitting D'Angelo Jimenez, whose pulled left side muscle makes swinging from the right side uncomfortable.
High fast ball
"I got behind," Gonzalez said. "I had to come in there and throw fastballs. I threw three in a row. That one was up a little bit. I didn't locate it well.
Pena was hitting a team-high .375 against left-handers going into the game.
"I just put him in there," Miley said. "He's the one who produced."
Jason Bay's three-run homer capped Pittsburgh's four-run first before Jose Acevedo (4-6) settled down to earn his first win in five starts since beating Montreal on May 29. He retired 16 consecutive batters and 19 of his last 20. He allowed five hits and one walk in seven innings, striking out four.
"I was a little bit hurried in my delivery to the plate," Acevedo said of his first-inning problems. "I had to slow it down a little bit. I got 100 percent focused. I knew I had to block it out and come back, and I proved I could do it."
Graves gets 29th save
Danny Graves pitched a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 29th save in 36 opportunities.
"For Acevedo to be able to simmer down and put zeros up after the first inning was a hell of a job," Miley said.
Wells, who missed his last start and hadn't pitched since June 13 because of irritation on his right middle finger, allowed two first-inning walks but held the Reds hitless until Freel beat out an infield single with one out in the sixth inning.
The right-hander gave up two runs and three hits in 62/3 innings. He struck out seven.
"We thought we had it won, but we couldn't put it away," McClendon said. "That third out can be awfully hard to get, and tonight proved it."