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  Friday, May 12 8:05pm ET
Cincinnati 7, Houston 3
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

HOUSTON (AP) _ Earning the win meant much less to pitcher Danny Graves than his first career hit.

Graves' solo homer in the 11th inning followed Pokey Reese's three-run shot as the Cincinnati Reds rallied to a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

``That's a once-in-a-lifetime thing,'' Graves said. ``It's way more exciting than my first win or my first save. I don't even hit home runs in batting practice. I won't sleep tonight.''

Graves, who was 0-for-11 in his career, hit the first pitch after Reese broke a 3-3 tie over the left-field fence. Graves (5-0) pitched three innings for the win.

``Everybody in the dugout went crazy,'' Reds manager Jack McKeon said after witnessing Graves' hit. ``That was a shocker but it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.''

The Reds won their fifth straight game and for the fifth time this season in their last at-bat.

Aaron Boone and Alex Ochoa walked off Mike Maddux (2-2) to start the 11th inning. Gookie Dawkins sacrificed the runners before Reese hit his first homer of the season.

``The thing that was so good about this was is that it helped us get a win,'' Reese said. ``I just wanted to get the ball out of the infield and hit it deep enough to get a run home. I got a fastball up and I just put the bat on the ball.''

Graves didn't know how to react to his first hit.

``When I started running, I saw that (Bill) Spiers just watched it go over,'' Graves said. ``I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I was supposed to slap hands with the coaches or what, or how fast I was supposed to run.''

The Astros took a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning with closer Billy Wagner on the mound. Boone, who hit a game-winning, two-run homer in the ninth inning of Cincinnati's 11-9 win over San Diego on Thursday, doubled to left field to start the inning. Ochoa followed with a double off the left-field scoreboard to tie the game.

``This is a tough one to lose,'' Astros manager Larry Dierker said. ``It's in our division and had lead in the ninth. With Billy on the mound, that's usually one in the bank but Billy can't do it every time.''

Ochoa's clutch hit kept Reds starter Denny Neagle from being the loser and kept alive Neagle's streak of 10 straight winning decisions. Neagle won his final six decisions last season and remained 4-0 this season.

Roger Cedeno, who had a career-high five hits, singled with one out, stole second and went to third on a groundout in the ninth. After Jeff Bagwell walked, Ken Caminiti grounded out to end the threat and force extra innings.

``I found it tonight, I hope I can keep it going,'' Cedeno said. ``I've just got to be patient and let things happen.''

Cedeno had a two-run single in the second inning and scored Houston's third run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Craig Biggio.

Dmitri Young's RBI single in the third inning gave Cincinnati its first run and extended Young's career-high hitting streak to 17 games. Boone hit a solo homer in the sixth.

Octavio Dotel allowed two runs and four hits in six innings for Houston.

Ken Griffey Jr., making his first appearance in Enron Field, went 0-for-5.

Notes: Reds relievers have allowed three earned runs in their last 20 innings and have converted their last eight save opportunities. ... Neagle's last loss was Aug. 25 last season at Atlanta. ... Young's hitting streak is the longest of the season for Cincinnati. ... Bagwell has homered at least once in eight of the Astros last nine series. ...Cedeno's second inning stolen base was the 100th of his career.

 


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