MILWAUKEE -- All Jason LaRue wanted against one of the best relievers in baseball was a single.
Instead, he hit a two-run homer that lifted the Cincinnati Reds to a come-from-behind 9-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.
"I came up and was obviously just trying to get a single and score (Jacob) Cruz and ended up getting a fastball out over the plate and it ended up going out of the ballpark," LaRue said of his go-ahead shot.
Cruz, batting ahead of LaRue, doubled with one out off Dan Kolb (0-1) the first extra-base hit the reliever allowed this season.
LaRue then hit his eighth homer, and Wily Mo Pena followed with his second of the game.
Kolb, who allowed three runs and four hits in just one-third of an inning, was philosophical afterward.
"Stuff like that happens," Kolb said. "It's never automatic. That's part of the baseball season. You have bad outings."
Kolb is headed to his first All-Star Game, and has been mostly solid this season as the Brewers' closer.
"I guess he saved it all for the last day of the first half," manager Ned Yost said. "Our bullpen has been good all year. That's a good offensive team. They keep coming at you."
Pena went 4-for-5 with three RBI, playing in place of the injured Ken Griffey Jr., who was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the game with a torn right hamstring.
Griffey, who will miss the All-Star Game, was hurt Saturday night while trying to run down Brady Clark's fourth-inning drive to right-center in the fourth inning of a 5-0 loss to Milwaukee. An MRI exam Sunday revealed a partial tear of the muscle.
Pena's production was good news for manager Dave Miley after losing his hard-hitting All-Star.
"Wily Mo, when he gets a hold of it, he can put a charge in it," Miley said.
Miley is not sure, however, if Pena will keep filling in for Griffey in center field.
"I think he's more comfortable in right," Miley said.
After starter Jose Acevedo gave up five runs in the first, he pitched four scoreless innings to keep the Reds in the game.
"He settled down, got into a rhythm and made adjustments," Yost said. "It wasn't like we weren't trying."
Todd Jones (7-2) got the win after pitching two-thirds of an inning. Danny Graves pitched the ninth for his 33rd save in 40 chances.
The Reds, who trailed 5-0, took their first lead at 6-5 in the seventh on Pena's two-run homer following Adam Dunn's ground-rule double.
Lyle Overbay tied it at 6 with his 10th homer in the eighth off Gabe White.
The Brewers jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Geoff Jenkins and Keith Ginter, a bases-loaded walk to Clark and sacrifice flies by Wes Helms and Gary Bennett.
The Reds made it 5-1 on an RBI single by Brandon Larson in the second, and added another run in the third on Cruz's single.
Cincinnati got two more runs in the sixth when Matt Kinney relieved starter Victor Santos and gave up an RBI single to Javier Valentin and an RBI double to D'Angelo Jimenez to make it 5-4.
Santos allowed four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Acevedo gave up five runs in five innings.
Notes
The Reds called up outfielder John Vander Wal from Triple-A Louisville to replace Griffey on the roster. Although he arrived at Miller Park after the game started, he came in in the sixth as a pinch hitter and doubled in his first major league at-bat this season. ... Overbay hit his major league-leading 37th double to start the third. ... Despite the loss, the Brewers (45-41) have a winning record heading into the All-Star break for the first time since 1998.
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