CINCINNATI — 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.

Reds’ boxscore

Sunday’s Game

Reds 8, Marlins 1

Florida Cincinnati

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Coghln lf 3 0 1 0 Stubbs cf 5 1 2 1

NJhnsn 1b 4 0 0 0 Janish ss 4 1 2 0

HRmrz ss 4 0 1 0 Votto 1b 4 1 1 2

Cantu 3b 3 0 0 0 BPhillips 2b 4 1 2 1

Uggla 2b 4 0 0 0 Rolen 3b 3 1 1 1

JoBaker c 3 1 1 0 Gomes lf 2 1 0 0

C.Ross cf 3 0 1 0 Gomes rf 4 0 0 0

BCarroll rf 3 0 1 1 DMcDnld lf 4 1 1 0

West p 1 0 0 0 CMiller c 4 1 2 3

CrMartinez p 0 0 0 0 KWells p 2 0 0 0

GSanchz ph 1 0 0 0 Herrera p 0 0 0 0

TWood p 0 0 0 0 ARosles ph 1 0 0 0

Gload ph 1 0 0 0 Owings p 0 0 0 0

AMiller p 0 0 0 0

Totals 30 1 5 1 Totals 33 8 11 8

Florida 000 000 010 — 1

Cincinnati 001 310 30x — 8

LOB–Florida 4, Cincinnati 6. 2B–Coghlan (25), Stubbs (3), Janish (19). 3B–B.Phillips (4). HR–C.Miller (1), Votto (22), T.Wood. RBIs–B.Carroll (16), Stubbs (15), Votto 2 (72), B.Phillips (90), Rolen (15), C.Miller 3 (6). SB–Ha.Ramirez (26). S–K.Wells.

IP H R ER BB SO

Florida

West L,7-6 4 1-3 5 5 5 3 4

Cr.Martinez 2-3 2 0 0 0 0

T.Wood 2 4 3 3 1 2

A.Miller 1 0 0 0 0 1

Cincinnati

K.Wells W,2-4 7 5 1 1 0 2

Herrera 1 0 0 0 0 1

Owings 1 0 0 0 0 1

K.Wells pitched to 3 batters in the 8th. HBP–by K.Wells (Cantu), by Herrera (Coghlan). Umpires–Home, Jim Joyce; First, Bill Miller; Second, Adrian Johnson; Third, Derryl Cousins. T–2:34. A–16,186 (42,319).