CINCINNATI, April 25 (UPI) -- Juan Encarnacion's two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Austin Kearns with the winning run Wednesday night as the Cincinnati Reds won their fourth straight, 4-3 over the Colorado Rockies.
Kearns led off the ninth with a broken-bat single to left, was sacrificed over and took third on a groundout. Colorado closer Jose Jimenez (0-2) intentionally walked Barry Larkin, but Encarnacion hit an 0-1 pitch into center field to hand the Rockies a fourth consecutive defeat.
Scott Williamson (1-0) allowed one hit over two innings of scoreless relief for his first victory since Aug. 12, 2000.
The Reds jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning behind RBI singles by Sean Casey and Adam Dunn and a sacrifice fly by Todd Walker.
Following a rain delay of two hours, 39 minutes, Jim Brower relieved Reds starter Chris Reitsma and allowed a three-run homer by Gary Bennett in the top of the fifth that tied the score.
The Rockies wasted opportunities to take the lead in both the seventh, when they had runners on first and third with one out, and the eighth, when they had the bases loaded and one out.
In the eighth, Todd Hollandsworth flied out to shallow left with the bases loaded. Dunn caught the ball and threw off-balance toward home, where catcher Corky Miller caught the strike and tagged out Terry Shumpert at the plate.
