Arms of Reds’ Outfielders Put Pirates in a Nasty Fix, 5-3 : NL Game 4: Cincinnati continues mastery of long-range defense. It can move into World Series with a victory tonight.

The Cincinnati Reds simply get nastier and nastier.

Tuesday night, their two best pitches came from their outfielders. Their top hitter was a rookie who kept his composure by singing heavy-metal rock songs to himself.

The game-clinching home run was hit by a third baseman who wears goggles and shares a nickname with a more-famous dog. And reliever Rob Dibble, the original Nasty Boy, even outdid himself by retiring the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth inning on nine pitches, eight of them strikes.

Leaving 50,461 fans at Three Rivers Stadium stunned, the Reds surged to within one game of the World Series with a 5-3 victory, giving them a three-games-to-one lead in the National League championship series.

With a victory today, the Reds would qualify for their first World Series since 1976, when they were known as the Big Red Machine. To do so, they will have to win their third consecutive game at Three Rivers Stadium. And they will have to beat Cy Young Award candidate Doug Drabek.

But do they care?

“It’s over,” said pitcher Jose Rijo, who made the same proclamation shortly before the Reds eliminated the Dodgers in the regular-season race for the West Division title.

He added, “They could always make a great comeback, but I don’t think so. It’s pretty much over.”

After giving up three runs in seven innings in earning the victory, Rijo should know. So should the Pirates’ Andy Van Slyke, who has three hits in 16 at-bats in this series.

When asked if his team has been painted into a corner, Van Slyke nodded.

“Not just that, but the paint is fresh and we’re getting some fumes,” he said.

For the Reds, this season’s fastest-starting team that stumbled into the playoffs, it has become April in October.

Chris Sabo, who hit .391 with five homers in April, broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning with a two-run homer to left field off loser Bob Walk.

Sabo was nicknamed “Spuds” by teammates who thought he resembled the dog who serves as a beer company mascot. True to that nickname, after Tuesday’s game he growled.

“We haven’t won anything yet,” he said. “This series has already proven that whoever gets the breaks, wins. This whole thing could turn around.”

It nearly did after his home run, but for a lucky bit of wind and the Reds’ second great outfield assist of the night, their fourth such assist this series.

Against a tiring Rijo, Jay Bell led off the eighth with a home run to make the score 4-3. With the heart of the Pirates’ lineup due next, Rijo was replaced by Randy Myers.

“I thought, ‘With our big guys coming up, we’re back in this game and we have a good chance,’ ” Bell said. “But this has been a series of ‘almosts’ and ‘maybes.’ ”

After taking two balls, Van Slyke lofted a fly ball to deep right. Halfway down the line, the ball hooked, and it landed several feet to the right of the foul pole. Van Slyke then flied out.

“I thought the ball was gone,” Van Slyke said. “An unfortunate turn of events, I would say.”

Bobby Bonilla then hit a ball even harder, to deep center. It went off the wall slightly below the 400-foot sign and barely above the glove of a leaping Billy Hatcher.

The ball then bounced toward shallow center field and Bonilla rounded second and headed for third. But Eric Davis, backing up the play from left field, picked up the ball and threw Bonilla out at third in the key play of the game.

“I thought we had no chance of getting him, and then here comes the ball out of nowhere,” Sabo said. “It was one of the most unbelievable plays I have ever seen.”

It was only slightly more impressive than the throw by Hatcher in the fourth inning after the Pirates had made the score 2-2.

With runners on first and second and two out, Jose Lind singled up the middle. But a strong throw from Hatcher reached catcher Jeff Reed on the fly, and Sid Bream was easily tagged out.

Add two great throws from right fielder Paul O’Neill that resulted in outs in Games 1 and 2, and the Reds’ outfield might be the series’ most valuable players.

“Defense is a pet peeve of Lou’s,” Hatcher said of Manager Lou Piniella. “That’s why all during batting practice, you’ll see us talking out there, going over every different situation. After a year together, we are very, very confident of making those plays.”

Tuesday’s exclamation point, of course, was supplied by Dibble, who relieved Myers in the ninth and retired Mike LaValliere on a fly ball and struck out Lind and pinch-hitter Jeff King.

Dibble has retired 15 of the 16 batters he has faced in the series.

“Nobody believed we could win this series, just like nobody is going to pick us to beat Oakland in the World Series,” he said. “But we’re going to beat their butts too.”

If the Pirates are eliminated, they will have some handy advice for the American League winner.

First, beware of what the Reds’ pitching can do to top hitters. Van Slyke, Bonilla and Barry Bonds continued to struggle Tuesday, and are batting a combined .222 for the series with two extra-base hits and three runs batted in.

For the first time Tuesday, the fans booed Bonds, who struck out twice and was retired on a weak popout to shortstop in the first six innings before finally hitting a single in the eighth.

The second piece of advice: Beware of quiet rookies.

The unsung star Tuesday was first baseman Hal Morris, who said the noise was so loud early in the game that he sang songs by the heavy-metal rock group AC/DC to himself to keep cool.

“And I know the words,” he said.

He also knows Pirate pitching. His single helped lead to a sacrifice fly by Sabo in the fourth inning. That followed a leadoff homer by O’Neill in the inning to give the Reds a 2-1 lead.

Morris singled and scored on Sabo’s homer in the seventh, and then doubled and scored the final run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Luis Quinones.

“This team has been playing pressure games all year,” Morris said. “It’s like, every series has been a pivotal series for us. We can handle this.”

The Pirates aren’t so sure of themselves.

“Right now,” Van Slyke said, “the whole team needs Doug (Drabek) to throw us a life preserver.”