CHICAGO (AP) -- Kevin Tapani had a right to be tired and disappointed. He had thrown 135 pitches, only to lose both his shutout and complete game in the ninth.

What didn't get away from the Chicago Cubs right-hander Sunday was a victory. And that's what mattered the most.

	Tapani

"Getting the shutout isn't as big as finishing the game when you have the lead," Tapani added. "When the manager gives you the opportunity to finish, you want to be out there at the end. I just came up one out short."

The Cubs were up 4-0 headed into the ninth, building the lead when Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee's throw on a sixth-inning double steal ticked the bat of Cubs hitter Ricky Gutierrez and sailed wildly past third allowing two runs to score.

With a four-run cushion, Tapani surrendered a two-run homer to Aaron Boone. After getting the second out of the inning, he gave up a single to Pokey Reese, prompting a visit from manager Don Baylor as the booing began at Wrigley Field.

"I asked him if he could get Barry Larkin and he said he could. He's one out away and he wanted to finish it more than anybody," Baylor said after he left Tapani in for one more hitter.

Baylor, whose bullpen has been in tatters all season, was cheered as he returned to the dugout.

But when Larkin got an infield single, that was it. Baylor returned to the mound and brought in Felix Heredia. The reliever walked Ken Griffey Jr. to load the bases but got Dmitri Young on a fielder's choice grounder to third to end the game.

"We still had the lead and to have Griffey face him after 135 pitches would not have been fair to Tapani. He pitched too well to lose," Baylor said.

"If I had had a pitch to hit it out, I would have hit it out," Griffey said of his final at-bat against Heredia. "With two guys on, I had a chance to put us ahead."

Neither Griffey nor Sammy Sosa homered in the three-game series, their first-ever meeting at long ball-friendly Wrigley Field.

Tapani (2-5), who'd lost 14 of his previous last 15 decisions, gave up 10 hits. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second by striking out rookie pitcher Rob Bell.

"Tapani looked hittable but we had a number of ground ball out," Reds manager Jack McKeon said.

Tapani also got the Cubs' only hit through the first five innings with a two-out single to center in the third. Bell (3-3) retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced.

But Damon Buford doubled to start the sixth and Eric Young walked one out later. When they took off on a double steal, Taubensee's throw nicked Gutierrez's bat and went sailing past third as both runners scored.

"It was a breaking pitch, so I went down to try and get it," Taubensee explained. "I threw the ball and heard it hit the bat and it just went off."

Gutierrez then followed with a solo homer, his seventh, and the Cubs had a 3-0 lead.

Buford hit a solo homer to lead off the eighth inning off Dennys Reyes.

Bell gave up just three hits in six innings.

Game notes
Griffey leads the majors with 41 walks. He beat out an infield single in the fifth, finishing 1-for-3. Sosa was 0-for-4. ... The announced crowd of 39,148 was the Cubs' largest of the season at Wrigley Field and 47 more than Saturday. The three-game series drew 115,448. ... Reds 1B Sean Casey, who has a 10-game hitting streak, was scratched from the lineup with flu-like symptoms. He was replaced by Hal Morris, who made his third start of the season. ... Bell limited the Cubs to three hits and three runs over seven innings in his major league debut on April 8 but did not get a decision. ... Chicago Bears WR Marcus Robinson threw out the first pitch. ... After the game, the Cubs placed 3B Shane Andrews on the disabled list with a bad back retroactive to May 15. They called up outfielder Raul Gonzalez from Triple-A Iowa.