Reds Make a Big Impression on Dodgers : Baseball: Cincinnati’s six-run seventh brings 8-4 victory. Braves’ lead is cut to 5 1/2 games.

After a season of injuries, suspensions, clubhouse fights and dog bites, the Cincinnati Reds have decided they care only about leaving the baseball world with one impression.

“People can say all kinds of things about us,” outfielder Bip Roberts said. “But we don’t want them to say we’ve given up.”

After Thursday night, nobody would dare.

Trailing the Dodgers, 4-0, after four innings, the Reds limped and hobbled their way to six runs in the seventh for an 8-4 victory.

In a game so inspirational many of the 18,707 fans at Dodger Stadium cheered for the visitors, the Reds won their season-high eighth consecutive game and cut the first-place Atlanta Braves’ lead to 5 1/2 games in the National League West.

“The best way to describe it is, we just continue to play,” said Lou Piniella, Red manager, before the game. “We’ve had rough periods, but we have veterans around here who know how to get through those periods. We’re still holding together.”

The Reds have nine games remaining. The Braves have 10 after their 4-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

The most likely scenario for a Reds’ comeback would be for Atlanta to win two of its last 10 games while the Reds go 7-2.

Considering the Reds finish with games against the Dodgers and Giants, and the Braves must play the more difficult San Diego Padres and Giants, the Reds hold at least one edge.

“It’s kind of bleak, but everybody knows that anything can happen,” Roberts said before he became one of the heroes Thursday with a pinch-hit triple.

“Anybody can lose eight out of 10 games, can’t they?” Roberts added. “The Braves aren’t playing well. You don’t know what can happen.”

After all, who would have thought that the Reds would make up five games on the Braves in eight days?

But then, who would have thought they would have reversed a 4-2 deficit so quickly on Thursday?

After scoring two runs in the fifth inning on a grounder by Freddie Benavides and a fly ball by Willie Greene, Cincinnati stunned the Dodgers and reliever Roger McDowell beginning with the first batter of the seventh.

Hal Morris, who could not start because of a sore knee that may require surgery, stepped in as a pinch-hitter and doubled down the left-field line. He limped into second base just in time to be replaced by a pinch-runner.

After Reggie Sanders walked, Greene hit a ball into the left-center field gap that fell out of the glove of a diving Brett Butler for a two-run triple, tying the score, 4-4.

Barry Larkin, whose great start of a double play at shortstop in the sixth inning prevented more Dodger scoring, singled to right to give the Reds the lead and end McDowell’s evening. But this offense was just getting started.

After Larkin moved to third base on reliever Jim Gott’s wild pitch on a walk to Dan Wilson, Roberts stepped up as a pinch-hitter.

He did not start because of a sore ankle. But, as if still inspired from his recent 10-for-10 streak, he managed to sprint for three bases on a grounder into the right-field corner.

That hit scored Larkin and Wilson with the fourth and fifth runs of the inning. Then Roberts scored on Paul O’Neill’s single to complete the rally.

“We keep riding the wave,” Roberts said.

The Dodger bullpen, which blew another lead for starter Bob Ojeda, keeps sinking. Ojeda gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings, but soon it didn’t matter.

McDowell gave up four runs and three hits without recording an out. Gott yielded two runs and three hits while getting only one out.