SARASOTA, Fla. -- Balls were lost in the lights, thrown into the outfield and dropped in the dirt Saturday night, as the Reds and Red Sox staged an exhibition game that very much proved what Spring Training is all about:

Working out the kinks.

And plenty of kinks were on display in this 8-7 victory for the Red Sox in front of 6,924 at sold-out Ed Smith Stadium.

Reds left-hander Eric Milton, making his first appearance with his new club, saw the first two pitches he threw turn into a 2-0 lead for the Red Sox, as Jay Payton knocked a double off the left-field wall and Ramon Vazquez hit a two-run home run to right.

That was part of a three-run first for the Sox, but they promptly gave two of those runs back with a pair of errors in the bottom of the inning. First baseman Kevin Millar had a throwing error and Vazquez booted a ball at short, and the Reds took advantage to make it 3-2.

The Reds also had their share of fielding miscues. Left fielder Adam Dunn lost track of a long fly ball hit by Dave Berg, then watched it sail over his head. Later that inning, Milton, first baseman Sean Casey and catcher Jason LaRue converged on a popup near the pitcher's mound, then watched as it dropped among them.

But while the defense wasn't stellar, both offenses came to play. The Reds tied it at 3 in the second on Rich Aurilia's sacrifice fly, and each team notched two runs in the third to make it 5-5.

The Reds took a 6-5 lead on Jacob Cruz's home run to right off Anibal Sanchez in the sixth, but Jeff Bailey countered in the top of the ninth with a shot off Joe Valentine.

Valentine (0-1) continued to labor that inning, giving up a base hit to George Lombard and walking Tim Hummel before Brandon Moss drove in Lombard with a double down the right-field line to make it 7-6. Scott White tacked on an RBI single to make it 8-6.

In the bottom of the inning, Dane Sardinha kept it interesting with a home run off Tim Kester to make it 8-7, but the hit parade died there.