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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates thought PNC Park was
built for them – instead, it appears to be made just for Sean
Casey.
|  | | Aaron Boone beats the ball to the base for a fifth-inning triple. |
Casey hit a long home run to wrap up a big series in his
hometown and the Cincinnati Reds, helped by a Pittsburgh defensive
lapse, beat the Pirates 11-6 Thursday night.
Casey, who grew up watching baseball in now-demolished Three
Rivers Stadium, went 2-for-5 with two RBI to finish 9-for-14 with
two homers, three doubles and eight RBI in the first series in PNC
Park.
"I'm glad he's leaving town," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon
said.
The Reds won two of the three games, scoring 24 runs in what
looks to be a hitters' ballpark once warm summer weather arrives.
It was 81 degrees at gametime with a light breeze, and the ball
was traveling well, with Casey and Dmitri Young both hitting long
homers. Brian Giles homered twice for Pittsburgh.
Casey, who hit the first homer in PNC Park on Monday, hit a
drive that was still carrying well when it struck a small speaker
behind the right-center field stands during a four-run Reds fifth
inning.
"I'm glad they built this ballpark," said Casey, who had
nearly as many RBI in the series as he did in three seasons at
Three Rivers (11). "Three Rivers wasn't good for me. I think I
like PNC Park a little more."
Casey's homer off Omar Olivares (0-2) was estimated at 432 feet
and would have been the first to leave PNC Park on the fly if it
hadn't hit the speaker, located in front of an auxiliary light
pole.
"His home run was unbelievable," Barry Larkin said. "It hit
the speaker out there – it was like `The Natural.' There were no
sparks, though."
Casey, hitting .375 with a league-high 14 RBI, missed another
homer by inches the night before in a 6-5 Reds' loss when the ball
struck a railing atop the 21-foot right field wall.
"I don't know what it is, my balls hit railings and speakers
here," Casey said.
Young did leave the park an inning later with his fourth homer
of the season, a shot off Marc Wilkins that landed on a walkway
behind the right-field stands.
"I've said all along the ball was going to jump in this
ballpark, especially when it got hot," McClendon said. "But most
of those balls were hit good. I don't think it's because they
carried that much."
Before that, the Reds had rallied from a 3-0 deficit with a
three-run fourth. The key play came when the Pirates failed to cut
off right fielder John Vander Wal's throw on Pokey Reese's
bases-loaded sacrifice fly, allowing the two runners to move into
scoring position and score on Kelly Stinnett's two-run single.
"We did some little things that hurt us early," McClendon
said.
The Reds took the lead on Olivares' run-scoring wild pitch, then
made it 7-3 on Casey's homer, Aaron Boone's triple and Reese's RBI
double – all off Olivares, whose ERA climbed to 8.18 as he allowed
seven runs and eight hits in five innings.
Larkin added a three-run double in the seventh off Wilkins, who
gave up four runs in two innings as hius ERA jumped to 10.80.
Pete Harnisch (1-1) got the victory – his eighth in his last 11
decisions against Pittsburgh – despite allowing four runs in six
innings, including the first of Giles' two homers.
Harnisch, who started 0-4 last season, settled down to retire 13
in a row following the three-run second.
"My slider came around; early in game it wasn't there and they
didn't have to respect it," Harnisch said. "It usually takes me
around three weeks and it's starting to come around, and that's a
positive step."
Game notes
Giles' first homer was his third in 16 at-bats against
Harnisch. ... Young had been 2-for-19 on the Reds' road trip before
going 2-for-4 with a double and homer. His homer was estimated at
407 feet. ... The Reds are 4-2 against the Pirates. ... The Pirates
(4-5) missed a chance to go over .500 for the first time since Aug.
15, 1999. ... The Pirates had been 4-0 when scoring at least four
runs. ... Derek Bell, hitless in 15 at-bats, discarded his baggy
uniform pants for a high-socks look and singled in his second
at-bat. ... The Pirates announced the game as a sellout weeks ago,
but held back some seats for prospective season ticket holders that
apparently weren't sold. The attendance was 33,045, well short of
the 37,898 capacity. ... If the 8 p.m. curfew currently in force in
Cincinnati due to rioting isn't lifted by next weeks, the Reds'
two-game series against Milwaukee on Tuesday and Wednesday might be
affected.
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RECAPS
Seattle 7
Oakland 3
Boston 8
Baltimore 2
Cleveland 5
Detroit 3
Kansas City 0
Toronto 0
Anaheim 13
Texas 3
Colorado 6
St. Louis 4
Milwaukee 12
Houston 4
San Diego 8
San Francisco 3
Cincinnati 11
Pittsburgh 6
NY Mets 1
Atlanta 0
Los Angeles 5
Arizona 4
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