CINCINNATI(AP) -- After a string of close games, the Cincinnati
Reds were glad to get a breather.

Corky Miller hit a rare home run to back Kip Wells' strong
pitching and Cincinnati gained a split of its four-game series
against the Florida Marlins by rolling to an 8-1 victory Sunday.

Miller's three-run shot and Joey Votto's two-run homer created a
cushion for Wells, who put together his longest outing since
being acquired by the Reds as a free agent on July 7 and joining
the team July 31.

Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker was thankful for a blowout win
after watching his team play five consecutive one-run games and
eight in a row decided by no more than three runs. The Reds had
played 17 straight games that were decided by four runs or less
since beating Pittsburgh 11-5 on Sept. 1.

"That was great," Baker said. "A lot of crooked numbers. Corky
Miller had a big day. Kip Wells threw the ball well. He
minimized his pitches. Not walking anybody was the key. He
didn't have a lot of strikeouts, but he got a lot of ground
balls and balls not hit very hard."

The Marlins began the day trailing Colorado by four games for
the NL wild card. They were seven behind first-place
Philadelphia in the NL East.

Wells (2-4), who opened the season in Washington's minor league
system and went 0-2 for the Nationals before being released July
6, pitched seven-plus innings. Using his off-speed pitches to
set up his fastball, he gave up one run and five hits with no
walks and two strikeouts. His previous longest outing with
Cincinnati was 6 2-3 innings against Houston in his last start
Tuesday, when he did not receive a decision.

"I've been throwing my changeup more in the past month," Wells
said. "I was falling behind early, but I was always able to
eventually get it over the plate and get them to whack it at
somebody."

Wells faced the minimum 11 batters through the first 3 2-3
innings before NL batting leader Hanley Ramirez singled to
center field for Florida's first hit.

"Wells' sinker was working good for him today," said Florida's
Dan Uggla, who was 0 for 3 against the Cincinnati starter. "I
don't know about everybody else, but I swung at a lot of bad
pitches."

Darnell McDonald led off the third for Cincinnati with an
infield single to shortstop. One out later, Wells sacrificed
McDonald to second and he scored on Drew Stubbs' double into the
left-field corner.

Florida starter Sean West walked Scott Rolen and Jonny Gomes
with one out in the fourth. McDonald struck out, but Miller
smacked West's first pitch into the left-field seats for his
first home run in the majors since June 11, 2008, for Atlanta
against the Cubs at Chicago.

Miller, who has played at least one game in the major leagues in
every season since 2001, hit his first homer for the Reds since
June 22, 2002, at Atlanta. He doubled his RBI total for the
season.

"You never know when it's going to be your last one," Miller
said. "It was great to get a four-run lead and give Kip some
breathing room. That helped a lot."

Stubbs led off the fifth with an infield single and Paul Janish
followed with a bunt single. Votto struck out looking, and
Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez called in right-hander Cristhian
Martinez to face Brandon Phillips, who hit the first pitch
through the hole into right field for an RBI single to give
Cincinnati a 5-0 lead.

"I got backed into a corner today and couldn't fight my way out
of it," West said. "I didn't have my good stuff today. It's a
huge learning experience coming from Double-A. I let my team
down today. I think they expected more from me."

Votto hit his 22nd homer in the seventh, a two-run shot, and
Scott Rolen later followed Phillips' triple with a run-scoring
groundout.

West (7-6), who had gone 4-1 with a 4.15 ERA in eight starts
since being recalled from Double-A Jacksonville on Aug. 8, gave
up five hits and five runs with three walks and four strikeouts
in 4 2-3 innings.

"It's the stuff you have to deal with in a young pitcher,"
Gonzalez said. "He takes a couple of steps forward, then one
back."

NOTES: Votto hit 21 home runs in his first full season last
year. ... The Reds went 9-8 in their most grueling stretch of
the season - 17 games in 17 days. Monday is their first day off
since Sept. 3. ... Florida hasn't won a series in Cincinnati
since taking two of three Aug. 5-7, 2005. ... Cincinnati RHP
Johnny Cueto threw a bullpen and was pronounced ready to start
Tuesday at Pittsburgh. Cueto missed his last scheduled start on
Thursday with flulike symptoms. RHP Justin Lehr and LHP Matt
Maloney will start the Reds' first two games next weekend in
Houston.