CINCINNATI -- With the game down to its last out, Reds fans stood behind the dugout and chanted, "First place! First place!"
In Cincinnati, reaching the top in April is something to celebrate.
Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn homered Friday night, powering the Reds to a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates that extended their uncharacteristically good start.
With their third straight win, the Reds moved into first place in the NL Central for the first time since June 17, 2002, when they were still playing at Cinergy Field with a bigger payroll.
It may be early, but it's still intoxicating.
"You hear about the Cubs and the Astros," said Sean Casey, who had a two-run triple. "Hey, we're here to win the Central and go to the playoffs."
Slow starts are more the norm for Cincinnati, which is 3-1 for the first time since 1997. At two games over .500, the Reds have matched their high point from last season, when they moved into Great American Ball Park and lost 93 games.
The Reds sold 9,461 tickets right before the game, their biggest walk-up crowd since 1994.
"It's good to see that the fans are excited about what we're doing," Dunn said. "We feel we can compete in this division. It seems we're the only people that think that. Hopefully fans see that we're a different team from the past."
Aaron Harang (1-0) held the Pirates to six hits in six innings, the third solid performance from a revamped rotation that ranked among the majors' worst last year.
Griffey put the Reds ahead to stay with a two-run homer in the first off Josh Fogg (0-1), the 483rd of his career. Griffey is 4-for-11 with two homers in three games so far.
Owner Carl Lindner, who has been booed at the ballpark for slashing the payroll by $14 million, sat seven rows behind home plate and waved at Griffey as he crossed the plate on his first-inning homer.
If Griffey proves he has fully recovered from surgery on his ankle and shoulder, the Reds will be in position to trade him. The 34-year-old outfielder has four more years left on a $116.5 million contract.
Dunn's leadoff homer in the second inning was more impressive, a 458-foot shot that caromed high off one of the replica riverboat smokestacks in centerfield.
Fogg's spring training problems carried over into his first start. He was limited in Florida by tightness in his left side, and lasted only five innings Friday, giving up five runs, five hits and three walks.
He hung a slider to Griffey and a change-up to Dunn, part of a pattern of throwing the ball exactly where he didn't want it to go.
"I felt good," Fogg said. "I felt good in the bullpen. It's one of those things where you can't miss by that much. If you miss, you have to miss off the plate, not down the middle."
Craig Wilson singled home the Pirates' only run off Harang, who got the benefit of several nice defensive plays. Shortstop Juan Castro got two ovations for plays on grounders in the third, when he went onto the outfield grass to rob Fogg of a hit and up the middle to steal one from Jason Kendall.
Pittsburgh has improved one of the NL's worst defenses, but its first error of the season was costly. Shortstop Jack Wilson dropped Ryan Freel's grounder in the third, setting up a two-run triple by Casey that made it 5-1.
Griffey, who drew a walk after Freel reached, ran hard and scored from first base on Casey's hit, catching his cleats as he slid awkwardly into home plate. Griffey missed the season opener because of a strained calf, and had avoided running hard until then so he wouldn't reinjure it.
Notes
Craig Wilson and Tike Redman have hit safely in each of the Pirates' four games. ... Reds 3B Brandon Larson returned to Cincinnati for treatment on his right elbow. Larson, on the DL with turf toe, was hit in his first plate appearance Thursday as he started a rehab assignment at Triple-A. ... SS Barry Larkin, in a 1-for-12 slump, got the day off to work on his swing. ... Steve Stewart replaced Joe Nuxhall in the broadcast booth, the start of a noteworthy transition. Nuxhall is working about half of the games this season, then will retire after 38 years of broadcasting Reds games.
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