CINCINNATI (AP) _ Kevin Young was 1-for-15 and facing the Cincinnati Reds' closer with the game on the line. He got a break when Danny Graves made a mistake.

Young put Pittsburgh ahead with a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning, and Mike Benjamin later added a two-run homer as the Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-6 Wednesday night.

Cincinnati lost for only the second time in 10 games due to a rare meltdown by its bullpen. The Reds had converted their previous 10 save opportunities since April 25.

This time, the bullpen gave up six runs in the last three innings.

"Our bullpen's been doing such a good job the last 10 or 12 days," manager Jack McKeon said. "But this was one of those days where they just didn't have it. It's going to happen to the best of them. They're entitled to a bad one every once in a while."

After Denny Neagle put himself in position to get his 11th consecutive win, the Pirates sent eight batters to the plate for three runs in the seventh and a 6-4 lead.

Scott Sullivan (0-2) loaded the bases by giving up John Vander Wal's pinch double, hitting Luis Sojo with two outs and walking Jason Kendall.

"I pretty much stunk," Sullivan said. "It was not one particular thing. It was pretty much everything."

Brian Giles then had a gritty at-bat, working Dennys Reyes to a full count and fouling off two fastballs before taking ball four low and away, forcing in the tying run.

"They've got a tough bullpen," Giles said. "The walks hurt them a lot tonight. That's uncharacteristic of their bullpen. They gave us a lot of opportunities by putting guys on with bases on balls and we were able to come up with some big hits."

Young had the biggest one. Graves relieved and got a 1-2 count on Young, who barely checked his swing on the next pitch and then lined a single to center to emerge from a 1-for-15 slump.

"I got down (in the count) early, he came back with a slider away and I took it," Young said. "Then he got a sinker up. I'm sure it wasn't the location he wanted."

Benjamin added a two-run homer, his first, off Graves with two outs in the eighth for an 8-4 lead, and Young drove in another run with a groundout in the ninth, adding to the Pirates' cushion.

Jose Silva (4-1) allowed one hit in 1 1-3 innings after relieving starter Jimmy Anderson. Jason Christiansen gave up a run on a double-play grounder in the eighth, and Mike Williams gave up another run in the ninth.

The Pirates used five pitchers in all as they got their seventh victory in 11 games.

Neagle, who has won 10 straight decisions in 16 starts since last Aug. 30, turned a 4-3 lead over to the bullpen after the sixth. He gave up eight hits _ two of them by Anderson, who doubled, singled and scored twice, annoying Neagle. The left-hander angrily threw his glove to the floor of the dugout after Anderson doubled with two outs in the third and scored on the first of Sojo's three hits.

Cincinnati put together a pair of two-run rallies off Anderson, who once again had problems getting into the flow of things. Anderson has failed to retire the side in order in the first inning of any of his seven starts, giving up 10 runs while opponents hit .444.

Dmitri Young and Sean Casey each drove in a pair of runs as the Reds went ahead 4-3 after five innings.

Young ran the Pirates out of a chance for the tying run in the sixth, when he led off with a double and tried to advance to third as the throw to second skittered away from Pokey Reese. The Gold Glove second baseman quickly retrieved the ball and easily threw Young out at third.

Notes: Pittsburgh has been outscored 33-17 in first innings. ... Wil Cordero missed a second consecutive game. He has the club's permission to attend to a family matter in Puerto Rico. ... The Pirates have had at least one extra-base hit in each of their 38 games. They had an extra-base hit in each of their first 64 games in 1997. ... Ken Griffey Jr. is shown in Reds pinstripes on the cover of Wheaties boxes shipped to Ohio stores this week. ... Dante Bichette, hitting .215, was left out of the lineup for a second consecutive game. ... Reliever Mark Wohlers, recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery, threw some split-finger fastballs in the bullpen. He hopes to be pitching in the minors by the end of the month.