Padres Defeat the Reds : Baseball: Scoring by bunt and by long ball, Padres win, 8-3, for fifth victory in past six games.

The Padres had the long and the short working for them Friday night.

The Padres went ahead to stay on a pair of bunts, then took command with a long home run by Fred McGriff as they beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3.

The victory put the Padres (79-75) six games ahead of the Reds with eight to play in the race for third place in the National League West.

Pitcher Greg Harris and Bip Roberts had RBI bunts in a decisive three-run fifth inning, and McGriff hit a three-run homer in the ninth to give the Padres their fifth victory in six games.

Harris (8-5) won his third consecutive start despite giving up a two-run homer to Paul O’Neill in the first inning and a solo homer to Barry Larkin in the sixth. Harris allowed five hits over six innings, and Larry Andersen retired the last four batters for his 12th save.

Harris played a pivotal role in the fifth-inning rally off Scott Scudder (6-8). His suicide squeeze scored Darrin Jackson to tie the score at 2, and Roberts followed with an RBI bunt single to put the Padres ahead to stay. Tony Fernandez doubled home a run to complete the rally.

Harris had to bunt a high, inside fastball with Jackson sprinting for home on a 2-1 pitch. If he misses, Jackson is out.

“I was fortunate to get it down,” Harris said. “Then Bip got a great bunt down and drove in another run.”

Harris’ bunt landed about 10 feet in front of home plate, and the backspin started the ball rolling towards the foul line. But Scudder didn’t hesitate to field and throw to first.

“He should have let it roll,” Manager Lou Piniella said. “It was going to go foul.”

McGriff closed it out with his 31st homer in the ninth off Ted Power. McGriff has four homers during his seven-game hitting streak, and has driven in 105 runs this year.

“What a year he’s had,” Padres Manager Greg Riddoch said. “The guy comes from the American League to the National League and doesn’t know anything about the pitchers, and he’s got 105 RBIs. He’s just had a sensational year.”

The Padres had to scratch for runs until McGriff’s homer.

Jack Howell tripled and scored on a ground out by Fernandez in the first, but O’Neill put the Reds ahead with his 28th homer in the bottom of the inning.

The Padres batted around in the fifth, which Jackson started with the second of his three hits. He moved to third on Thomas Howard’s double and scored on Harris’ squeeze. Roberts then popped a bunt to the right of the mound and was safe with an RBI single when Scudder was late covering first. The double by Fernandez made it 4-2.

Larkin’s sixth-inning homer was his 20th, tying Leo Cardenas’ team record for homers in a season by a shortstop. The Reds’ ninth loss in 13 games made it less meaningful to him.

“It feels good. It’s something I’ve accomplished. But it’s so frustrating because we’re just losing,” Larkin said. “We’ve had lots of adversity this year.”

The Padres matched it with a seventh-inning run as Benito Santiago hit into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded.