DENVER — Catcher Eddie Taubensee remained incredulous Wednesday after a first-inning play cost the Reds a run in their 7-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

        Larry Walker was on second base and Jeff Cirillo was on first with two outs when Pete Harnisch's first pitch to Todd Helton skipped to the backstop. Taubensee chased the ball slowly, believing it had struck Helton on the right foot and the play was dead.

        But Walker hustled around to score, and home plate umpire Tim McClelland allowed the run to count. Television replays indicated that the ball hit Helton.

        “He (Helton) yelled "Ow,' and they didn't call it,” Taubensee said. “It was very obvious. The ball shot off in the other direction and he yelled. We showed (McClelland) the ball and it had a black scuff mark on it. He still said no, he didn't see (the ball hit Helton).”

        Said manager Jack McKeon, “It hit him in the foot! ... Maybe we ought to get instant replay in baseball.”

        PETE'S PROGRESS: Reds starter Pete Harnisch rated his performance “a little better” than his previous two outings, when he lasted only four innings in each and allowed a total of eight earned runs. Harnisch threw 58 strikes in 90 pitches.

        “I liked the way I threw the last couple of innings,” said Harnisch, who yielded four runs (three earned) and five hits in six innings.

        Usually a fly-ball pitcher, Harnisch succeeded in adjusting to the slugger-friendly conditions at Coors Field. Eleven of the 18 outs he recorded were on ground balls.

        JUNIOR'S SERIES: Ken Griffey Jr. displayed his ability to adjust to any pitcher by lining a single off Colorado reliever Mike Myers to load the bases with one out in Wednesday's ninth inning.

        Tuesday night, Griffey struck out against Myers, a left-hander who throws deceptive, off-speed pitches.

        Griffey opened the Reds' scoring by driving in Chris Stynes with a first-inning single, extending his streak of consecutive games with at least one RBI to eight. Joe Morgan set the franchise record of 10 in 1975.

        For the series, Griffey went 5-for-11 with two homers, a double and eight RBI.

        GOING TO EXTREMES: Barry Larkin went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to eight games and lift his average to .368. He's hitting .455 (5-for-11) with runners in scoring position.

        Larkin also committed his fourth error in 10 games when he muffed Tom Goodwin's fourth-inning ground ball, leading to an unearned run in Colorado's three-run uprising.

        THIRD AT FIRST: Hal Morris became the third different Red to start at first base in the last three games. D.T. Cromer played first Tuesday night after Dmitri Young started the first eight games.

        McKeon indicated that such rotating may continue until Sean Casey returns from his broken right thumb, which could happen late next week.

        SLOW START: Dante Bichette's .179 average contrasts sharply with the .318 career average the Reds' right fielder built in previous Aprils.

Rockies 7, Reds 5 Box, runs Taubensee: Run shouldn't have counted Deion scores first run in new park

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