NEW YORK — Last year's tormentors reminded the Reds of their current frailties.

Rob Bell, pitching in the first inning, wears a 1969-replica uniform for a "Turn Back the Clock" promotion. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        The New York Mets, who beat the Reds in the wild-card playoff game Oct.4, gave Cincinnati a rude start to its three-city, 10-game trip with a 6-5 victory Tuesday night at Shea Stadium.

        The Reds lost their fourth game in a row, longer than any streak they endured a year ago. It suggested that repeating the success the Reds stumbled upon last season has grown increasingly difficult.

        Cincinnati (8-11) is having enough trouble finding consistency this year, much less trying to recapture the magic of the previous season. The Reds must win four of their next five games to avoid finishing April with a losing record for the sixth year in a row.

        “That was a tough one, but we're gaining on them,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said, referring to the 36-7 pasting the Los Angeles Dodgers administered last weekend. “We're not ready to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge yet.”

Mets pitcher Turk Wendell (99) covers first base to get putout on Alex Ochoa. | ZOOM |

        McKeon's faint optimism was well-founded. Having struggled in clutch situations, the Reds received key two-out hits from Gookie Dawkins, who stroked an RBI double, and pinch hitter Mark Lewis, who lined a two-run single to fuel a four-run sixth inning that gave Cincinnati a 5-4 edge.

        But the Mets, winners of nine consecutive games, scored twice in the seventh against relievers Scott Sullivan (0-1) and Scott Williamson.

        Derek Bell, who went 14-for-16 in one recent stretch, erased the lead immediately. Robbed of a fifth-inning homer by center fielder Ken Griffey Jr.'s splendid over-the-wall catch, Bell started the seventh by hammering Sullivan's first pitch into the unoccupied left-field bleachers.

        Edgardo Alfonzo singled and Mike Piazza doubled, prompting the Reds to bring in Williamson. He fared no better, falling behind Robin Ventura 3-0 and then intentionally walking him to fill the bases.

Gookie Dawkins leaps over Rickey Handerson to complete a double play. | ZOOM |

        Pinch hitter Jon Nunnally exacted a measure of revenge upon his former teammates, coaxing a four-pitch walk from Williamson to force in Alfonzo with the go-ahead run.

        Otherwise, the failures came early and late for the Reds.

        Pitching before scores of relatives and friends from nearby Marlboro, N.Y., Reds starter Rob Bell failed to match the effectiveness or durability of his first three starts. The right-handed rookie allowed four runs in four innings, his shortest outing this year. He especially slipped in the third inning, when Alfonzo clouted a two- run homer and Ventura homered one out later. That equaled the number of homers Bell had yielded in his previous 20 innings.

        “That didn't quite go the way I wanted it to,” Bell said. “It was my fault, no question about it. I was throwing too much offspeed stuff too early and too often.”

Ken Griffey Jr. after striking out for the last out. | ZOOM |

        The Reds clung to life in the ninth inning when Griffey batted against Mets closer Armando Benitez with Sean Casey on first base and two outs. Griffey, whose five previous at-bats against Benitez included a homer and three strikeouts, took a third strike on a full-count pitch. Benitez, who struck out the side, earned his eighth save to preserve the victory for reliever Turk Wendell (2-0).

        Griffey, whose average dropped to .194 in an 0-for-3 evening, maintained his pride. “I don't think there's anybody on the field who doesn't want the bat in the ninth inning with the game on the line,” he said.

        Griffey's transcendent play in the fifth, when he raced into left-center field and soared above the wall at the 396-foot mark to deny Derek Bell, didn't salvage the game.

        But it did sustain his hope, which is all that gives the Reds solace these days.

        “I may not be hitting, but I can still play defense. ... I can help the team in other ways,” Griffey said. “At the end of the year, or right now, we'll get a couple of games because of that.”

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