CINCINNATI (AP) -- Omar Vizquel hit his third homer in two days. Ken Griffey Jr. got mad and got tossed. Cleveland's clubhouse was filled with shouting after a wild win.

The Indians and the Cincinnati Reds found an appropriate way to part until next year.

Vizquel's solo homer and a two-run rally in the ninth set up by All-Star closer Danny Graves' costly error gave the Indians a 5-3 victory Sunday and a split of their six-game intrastate series this season.

Neither city will have bragging rights, and maybe it's best that way. Neither team has done much to brag about -- the Indians are 10½ games out in the AL Central, while the Reds trail by eight in the NL Central.

As a sign of the times, there was shouting in the Indians clubhouse after the game before reporters were allowed in.

"Things happen in the game. That's all part of it," manager Charlie Manuel said, declining to elaborate.

The Indians sounded glad to get away for a few days.

"Everybody's got to go home, relax, take a look at themselves in the mirror and think about what we've got to do to have a better second half," Vizquel said. "It's a great challenge for us because we haven't been in this situation in the last five years."

Both teams showed the strain Sunday in a 3-hour, 12-minute game played on baking artificial turf.

Griffey, pulled from the All-Star roster because of a sore right knee, went 0-for-3 and was ejected by home plate umpire Justin Klemm after arguing a called third strike in the eighth inning.

Griffey screamed at Klemm and threw his bat away before manager Jack McKeon got between the two of them. Griffey threw his helmet and bat back onto the field before leaving.

Griffey hadn't seen a replay of Andrew Lorraine's pitch on the outside corner.

"I don't get mad very often," Griffey said. "If I'm wrong, I'll apologize to him. If he's wrong, we'll shake hands and go out and do our jobs."

Both starting pitchers did respectable jobs, before the bullpens set up a wild ending.

A day after Cincinnati scored 14 runs with four homers, Bartolo Colon (9-5) struck out eight and limited the Reds to three hits in six innings, including Hal Morris' pinch-homer in the sixth.

Scott Williamson (2-6), who won the NL's Rookie of the Year award as a reliever in 1999, made his first career start and wound up giving up another big hit by Vizquel.

The shortstop's solo shot put the Indians ahead 2-0 in the sixth and left him 2-for-4 career off Williamson with two homers. Vizquel also hit a game-winning two-run homer off Williamson in Cleveland last year.

"Their catcher was like, 'Let me check your bat,"' Vizquel said. "Griffey was looking at me and laughing from their bench."

Sandy Alomar Jr.'s sacrifice fly made it 3-1 in the seventh. The game degenerated in the ninth when it got into the hands of the closers.

Graves, named to his first All-Star team before the game, loaded the bases with two outs. Next up was Karsay, who had never batted in the majors.

Using Colon's bat, Karsay hit a gentle comebacker to Graves and then ran hard down the line. Graves bounced his throw in the dirt, leaving Karsay safe as a run scored. Graves then hit Roberto Alomar on the right arm just below the elbow to force in another run for a 5-1 lead.

"I don't know exactly what happened," Karsay said. "You run towards first and hopefully good things happen. He threw it in the dirt and we ended up getting a couple of important runs."

Graves couldn't explain it, either.

"I made the mistake of starting to run over there instead of throwing it like I usually do," Graves said. "I was thinking: 'It's the pitcher and he won't be running.' I looked up and he was sprinting, and I just kind of lollygagged it over there."

Karsay gave up an RBI single to Pokey Reese and a run-scoring groundout by Juan Castro before getting Barry Larkin to fly out with runners on first and third, ending the game.

Despite their struggles this season, the Indians remain the biggest draw in Cincinnati. The series featured two sellouts and drew 159,065 fans, a stadium record for a three-game series.

Cleveland won for only the 10th time in 28 games since June 11, a nosedive that has left the Indians with a lot of ground to make up. Cincinnati is 12-20 since June 5, a slide that's dropped the Reds deep into second place as well.

Game notes
The Indians lead the four-year intrastate series 10-8. ... 3B Travis Fryman, who had to leave Saturday's game with a sore left ankle, played all nine innings and went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. ... Vizquel has hit five homers against the Reds in the last two years. ... The Indians activated reliever Sean Depaula off the disabled list and optioned right-hander Kane Davis to Triple-A Buffalo. ... Aaron Boone came in to play third as the Reds juggled their lineup after Griffey's ejection. He twisted his strained left knee while trying to field a grounder in the ninth and limped off the field. The injury wasn't considered serious. ... Williamson made his first major league start after 100 relief appearances.