Reds Drop Astros Out of First Place

Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Cincinnati Reds rallied for a 9-7 victory Friday night that knocked the Houston Astros out of first place in the Central Division.

Houston has lost four in a row, matching its worst slump of the season, and dropped out of first place for the first time since July 7.

The Astros, who started the day tied for the division lead with the St. Louis Cardinals -- who lost to Philadelphia -- are a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs. Houston hadn’t lost four in a row since June 23-27.

A day after they ended a losing streak against the Arizona Diamondbacks at 16, the Reds ended a losing streak against the Astros at 10 by getting yet another game-ending hit.

D’Angelo Jimenez led off the 10th inning with a single off Brad Lidge (4-3). One out later, Dunn hit his 27th homer into the Astro bullpen in right field -- his first RBIs since July 30.

It was the Reds’ 13th game-ending hit of the season and their 27th win in their last at-bat, most in the majors. Fourteen of their 54 wins have come in extra innings.

Ryan Wagner (2-0) pitched the 10th to get his second career victory.

Cincinnati had lost eight of its last 10 games, getting shut out three times during that span as its offense struggled. The Reds scored only four runs in their previous four games.

They finally got rolling against the Astros’ usually dependable bullpen, which gave up six of the nine runs.