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Sean Casey (right) hugs manager Bob Boone after hitting the game-winning home run in the 10th inning off Astros pitcher Ricky Stone. (David Kohl/AP)

"He asked me, 'Have you ever had a walk-off homer?' " said Casey, who had never hit one in the Majors. "Sometimes thoughts cross your mind, especially in extra innings. It was such a long day. When I was in the on-deck circle, I thought, 'Wow, you could hit a walk-off homer.' But when I got to 0-2 it was the last thing on my mind."

But this is baseball, where fantasy can become reality on just one pitch.

Casey golfed reliever Ricky Stone's two-strike pitch into the right-field seats, snapping a 1-1 tie and giving the Reds a 2-1 victory that enabled them to feel like contenders in the National League Central Division for another day.

"Every game's important," Casey said after the Reds (63-59) remained 5 1/2 games behind first-place St. Louis and trimmed the gap separating them from second-place Houston (64-59) to a half-game. "We can't fall back too much farther. We're scrapping to inch a little closer. We have to win games like that."

That task could become easier for the Reds if Casey regains the form that made him a two-time NL All-Star. He has hit safely in eight of nine games since being reinstated from the disabled list, after a slight muscle tear in his left shoulder sidelined him. He has batted .364 (12-for-33) in that stretch.

"I feel good at the plate since I came back from the DL," Casey said. "I'm strong again, trying to get back to being a factor for the next few weeks and [helping us] get back in first place."

But Sunday's blast was only Casey's first homer and fourth RBI since returning. His .273 batting average remains 38 points below the career figure he owned entering this season. The first baseman has just six homers in 362 at-bats. His shoulder definitely hampered him, but Reds manager Bob Boone has noticed other flaws.

"He's been collapsing on his backside [left leg] and flipping all those breaking balls," said Boone, explaining Casey's lack of power. "But he got it [Sunday's homer]. He's capable of doing it at any time."

"He has to be the 'Case-man' we know," third baseman Aaron Boone said. "Hopefully that's something that'll really get him going."

Casey's friendly exuberance has never slumped -- whether he's hitting or struggling, whether he's healthy or on the DL.

Sean Casey   /   1B
	Height: 6'4" Weight: 225 Bats/Throws: L/R More info: Player page Stats Hit chart Reds site

His unquenchable spirit was fully evident as he bounded home with the winning run. He gestured triumphantly to his sister and brother-in-law, Beth and Chip Gold, who were visiting from Vermont and sitting in the grandstand. He bear-hugged Aaron Boone before being engulfed by more teammates.

"If you could take all the moments you've had playing Major League baseball and bottle them up, that's one I'll definitely bottle," Casey said.

Aaron Boone, who has survived his own hitting nightmares, identified closely with Casey.

"He's one of the guys that helped me when I was going bad," said Boone, whose locker stall is next to Casey's. "He was as good a teammate as you can be and is as good a teammate as you can be. [To see him get] a hit in that spot, we're fired up for him."

Casey also was fired up as he settled in the batter's box against Stone (3-3) with one out and nobody on in the 10th. But maybe the prospect of hitting a decisive homer had stoked his fires a little too much. He pulled the first pitch foul -- "I think I was really trying to win the game there," he said -- and swung too quickly at Stone's next pitch, a changeup.

"I was trying to really get into one, and you can't hit that way," Casey said. "So I tried to calm down a little bit and put the ball in play hard somewhere."

That didn't happen too often during a damp day at Cinergy Field, where the rain delay of two hours, 56 minutes that halted play in the third inning was longer than the game (2:36). Casey even found a chance to speak to his relatives and offered them some advice: "I told them during the delay to go shopping or something."

Perhaps affected by the late-afternoon shadows that developed, the Reds [four] and Astros [three] combined for just seven hits. After the prolonged delay forced starters Jimmy Haynes of Cincinnati and Carlos Hernandez of Houston to leave prematurely, both teams' bullpens thrived. The Reds relied largely on left-hander Bruce Chen, who worked four innings and lapsed only when Jeff Bagwell homered to lead off the seventh inning and tie the score, 1-1.

"My off-speed pitches were working well for me and I was able to locate my fastball on a consistent basis," said Chen, who hadn't pitched since last Wednesday and had logged only 4 1/3 innings this month before Sunday.

Until Casey homered, the Reds hadn't moved a runner past first base since the second inning, when Austin Kearns hit a leadoff homer. The sense of lethargy was balanced by restlessness.

"I think everybody was in a hurry to go home -- fans, us, concession people, everybody," Casey said. "You never want to sit around all day and lose a ballgame. I think everybody was looking for that one big hit."

Chris Haft covers the Reds for MLB.com and can be reached at haftkeem@aol.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.