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Cincinnati Reds Adam Dunn watches his three-run home run off Cleveland Indians pitcher Masa Kobayashi in the ninth inning of a baseball game in Cincinnati on Saturday, May 17, 2008. The Reds won 4-2.
CINCINNATI—Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Masa Kobayashi, rallying the Cincinnati Reds to their season-high fifth straight victory Saturday, 4-2 over the Cleveland Indians.

Dunn's third homer in three games helped the Reds survive another shutdown pitching performance by Cleveland's Fausto Carmona, who turned a 2-1 lead over to a bullpen in transition.

Kobayashi (2-1) got a chance to close games after Rafael Betancourt struggled earlier in the week, costing him the job he had been given until Joe Borowski returns from a sore arm.

Kobayashi, who saved more than 200 games in Japan, opened the ninth by giving up a single to Joey Votto and hitting Edwin Encarnacion. Dunn then latched onto a belt-high fastball, driving it deep into the seats in right field for his ninth homer.

Dunn also drove in the winning run Friday night with a bases-loaded walk in Cincinnati's 4-3 victory over its intrastate rival.

A crowd of 42,023—the first sellout at Great American Ball Park since opening day—saw Dunn beat the Indians with a game-ending homer for the second time in three seasons. He had a game-ending grand slam off Bob Wickman in a 9-8 victory at the ballpark on June 30, 2006.

Bill Bray (1-0) pitched out of a scoring threat in the ninth to get the win.

Until the bullpen meltdown, Carmona was in line for another impressive win. The right-hander allowed only Brandon Phillips' RBI single and four hits overall


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in 7 1-3 innings, a fitting follow-up to his last performance. Carmona threw his second career shutout against Toronto on Monday, a 3-0 win.

The Indians have four shutouts in their last eight games. Their starters have been nearly untouchable, allowing only four earned runs in their last 59 1-3 innings.

Cincinnati's Aaron Harang gave up eight hits in seven innings against the Indians' struggling lineup. Cleveland's .234 team batting average ranked last in the majors. The Indians stranded runners in scoring position in six innings.

Ryan Garko doubled home a run off Harang, and Ben Francisco put Cleveland ahead 2-1 with a solo homer off David Weathers in the eighth, his third hit of the game.

Carmona's personal shutout streak ended when Phillips singled home a run in the sixth, then did a little showing off. Phillips extended his right arm as he ran to first base, celebrating against the team that gave up on him two years ago.

On Friday night, Phillips lowered his left shoulder and did a skip to home plate after his two-run homer off Jeremy Sowers.

Notes:@ Borowski is scheduled to pitch an inning for Class A Lake County on a rehab assignment on Monday, then throw again on Wednesday. Borowski has been on the DL with a strained right triceps. ... The final game of the series matches the ERA leaders in both leagues: Cleveland's Cliff Lee (0.67) and Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez (1.12). It will be only the third time that the leagues' ERA leaders faced off, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Mets' Al Leiter got the loss in a game June 26, 1998 against the Yankees' Hideki Irabu, who had a no-decision. Boston's Derek Lowe beat Atlanta's Tom Glavine 6-1 on June 16, 2002.