Boone’s Homer Gets Reds Started Toward 4-3 Victory

Aaron Boone hit a home run with two outs in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie, and Ron Villone allowed two hits in seven innings as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 4-3, Monday night.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run homer for the Reds, who won for the seventh time in eight games to move into a tie for first place in the NL Central with St. Louis.

Villone (5-1) struck out three and walked five in matching his longest outing of the year. He won his third consecutive decision.

Jose Lima (1-6), who has lost a career-high six consecutive decisions, pitched his best game of the season, allowing two runs and seven hits in seven innings to lower his earned-run average from 9.53 to 8.49.

Lima didn’t allow the Reds to score until the seventh, his longest scoreless stretch this season.

Boone broke up Lima’s shutout by hitting a 2-2 pitch over the right-field fence with Eddie Taubensee on first in the seventh. It was the 17th homer allowed by Lima this season.

Villone retired 10 of 11 batters in one span from the second to the fifth inning. Ken Caminiti’s single in the first was the only hit he allowed until the seventh.

Villone, who had lasted seven innings only one other time (April 11 at Colorado), lost his shutout in the bottom of the inning when Tony Eusebio hit a home run.