Cincinnati Ends Streak at 10

Five double plays and a double that the Cincinnati Reds fortunately couldn’t play helped the defending World Series champions avoid their longest losing streak in a quarter-century.

The ball finally bounced right for the Reds on Saturday and they stopped their 10-game losing streak by holding off the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2.

Eric Davis hit a three-run homer in the first inning and the defense turned five double plays as Cincinnati won for the first time since July 5 and also halted a nine-game losing string against the Pirates. The Reds hadn’t lost more than 10 in a row since the 1966 team lost 11 straight.

“You don’t appreciate winning until you’ve been through something like we have,” Reds manager Lou Piniella said. “Maybe this will get us going.”

Despite a streak that included five losses to Pittsburgh over the last two weekends, the Reds lost only a half-game in the standings as National League West leader Los Angeles also struggled.

Pittsburgh almost made it 11 consecutive losses for Cincinnati, which was minus suspended closer Rob Dibble. The Reds nearly blew a 3-1 lead in the ninth as Randy Myers, who had allowed eight runs in 3 1-3 innings in his previous two outings against Pittsburgh, walked a pair of hitters with one out.

Ted Power came on to strike out Lloyd McClendon, but Orlando Merced followed with a ground-rule double that would have scored the tying run from first base if the ball hadn’t bounced over the right-center field fence. Instead, Gary Redus was forced to stay at third, and Power retired Jay Bell on a grounder for his first save.

“I knew if the ball stayed in we’d tie the game, but you can’t tell what the ball’s going to do,” Merced said. “I didn’t hit it on the sweet spot, but I’ll take it. I just wish we’d won the game.”

“I knew no one was going to catch it and we were looking at a tie game if it doesn’t get over the fence,” second baseman Bill Doran said. “And their big guys were coming up. It’s been frustrating losing as many games as we’ve lost, so I’m glad we finally caught a break.”

Myers, unhappy at losing the stopper’s job to Dibble, was steamed at being yanked, but Piniella said, “What else could I do but go get him? He’d lost his control. He was frustrated about not throwing strikes and that was basically it.”

Kip Gross (2-2), a 10-6 loser to Pittsburgh in his previous start, was helped by double plays in the second, third and fourth innings while spreading seven hits over 6 1-3 innings. Tim Layana got Bell to hit into a double play in the seventh before Myers entered in the eighth and got Bonilla to ground into his second double play.

Cincinnati, a 7-2 loser Friday when the Pirates scored four runs in the first, benefitted this time from a big first after Bill Doran singled off Bob Walk (7-2) with one out and Hal Morris walked.

Walk got ahead in the count 0-2, but Davis homered over the right-field wall, his 10th of the season and third against Pittsburgh.

Walk and Bob Kipper held the Reds to just one hit in the last seven innings. Still, Walk lost to a West team for the first time in 10 decisions since he lost to the Reds on Sept. 2, 1989. He was 5-0 against the West last season and was 4-0 this season.

“He had a tough first and could have caved in on a hot day, but he didn’t and he kept us in the game,” Pirates manager Jim Leyland said. “We had our chances, but we couldn’t get that killer hit.”

The Pirates scored in the third on Andy Van Slyke’s RBI single, but Bobby Bonilla and Barry Bonds -- who have 10 homers and 30 RBIs against the Reds -- were a combined 1-for-7. Bonilla, who had nine hits in 15 at-bats entering the game, went 1-for-4 and left four runners on base.

Pittsburgh lost for the second time in 10 games and the first time in five home games against the Reds. Last year, Cincinnati beat the Pirates 4-2 in the NL playoffs.