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Dunn, Griffey each homer as Reds outslug Astros

May 10, 2007 - 9:59 PM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- The Cincinnati Reds were tired of losing to the Houston Astros.

Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. each homered and drove in three runs as the Reds opened an early lead and went on to defeat the Astros, 9-5, for just the second time in nine meetings this year.

Aaron Harang (5-1) was far from dominant but still got the win, allowing five runs, nine hits and one walk while striking out two in 6 2/3 innings.

"I had the one bad inning" Harang said. "I didn't have my best stuff, but I hung in there and kept the team in the game and the guys came out and scored some runs."

Two relievers bridged the way to David Weathers, who pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for his seventh save.

David Ross also went deep for the Reds, who avoided a four-game series sweep.

It was a rough start for Houston's Matt Albers (1-2) who allowed seven runs, nine hits and one walk in just three innings.

"I just was continually getting the ball up over the plate," Albers said. "The more I tried to make an adjustment, the higher the ball got."

The Reds had a comfortable lead after their first at-bat. Ryan Freel singled, moved to third on Scott Hatteberg's single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Griffey.

Brandon Phillips followed with an infield single and set the stage for Dunn, who belted a 3-2 pitch over the center field wall for his 11th homer, tying Barry Bonds for the National League lead.

The Reds extended their lead to 6-0 an inning later. Freel doubled between outs and Griffey drilled his sixth home run into the right field stands.

"Just keep plugging away," Griffey said. "My thing was I was just trying to get the guy home from third and it just happened to go out."

Griffey's 569th career homer tied him with Rafael Palmeiro for ninth on the all-time list. Harmon Killebrew is next with 573.

The Reds tacked on another run in third when Dunn led off with triple and scored on Josh Hamilton's sacrifice fly. Dunn had three hits and three runs and finished a single shy of hitting for the cycle.

"(The cycle is) overrated," Dunn said. "It's cool and all but it's not like pitching a no-hitter."

The Astros began to climb back into the game in the fourth on Chris Burke's first home run of the season, a three-run shot that just cleared the left field wall.

Houston cut the deficit to 7-5 with a two-out rally in the fifth. Mark Loretta singled, Lance Berkman walked and Carlos Lee singled for a run.

Luke Scott singled to right field to plate Berkman, but the inning ended as Griffey threw out Lee trying to advance to third base.

Ross's third home run of the season in the bottom of the inning gave the Reds a 9-5 advantage.

"His home run was huge," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "It seemed like every time (Houston) needed a hit, they got one."

The Astros had the opportunity to draw closer in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out. However, Weathers got Brad Ausmus to pop out before striking out Morgan Ensberg.

Ensberg nearly hit a game-tying grand slam in the at-bat but his drive down the left field line hooked just foul.

"Off the bat I thought I might have a chance," said Ensberg, who began leaping and pointing to fair territory after hitting the ball. "I could tell pretty clearly it was going to be foul halfway up (the line). It was close but not close enough."

"It was like the movie 'Rookie of the Year,'" Weathers said. "He was yelling 'stay fair.' I was yelling 'go foul, go foul.'"

Weathers voiced his frustration on Tuesday regarding the media's criticism of the the team's bullpen. He followed up on those remarks after this game.

"What bothered us most was, we knew we were better," he said. "To the media, when we do good it's luck. It was hard to come in here, knowing we cost the team games. We have the people that can do it, we just have to do it. This is the big leagues, if you can't do it, they'll get someone else."

Berkman had homered in his last three games. He had two hits and is batting .325 (39-for-120) with 15 home runs and 38 RBI in 33 games at Great American Ballpark.