Eric Davis, singling here, later homered. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

Mathematically, the Reds remain alive in the National League Central race. Realistically, it doesn't appear to be a race anymore.

The St. Louis Cardinals strengthened their hold on first place in the division Thursday by thumping the helpless Reds 12-3 before a record weekday afternoon crowd of 45,771 at Cinergy Field.

Many of those folks are bound to lose interest pretty soon. Second- place Cincinnati (37-40) needed to win this four-game series to apply some pressure upon St. Louis. Instead, the Reds split the series, leaving them 8 games behind the Cardinals (46-32).

The Reds' next task isn't any easier. Having completed a lame 5-5 homestand, they open a four-game series tonight on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lead the NL West. Then comes a three-game rematch at St.Louis.

Manny Aybar wipes a new ball after giving up Davis' homer. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

""I don't think we feel good about a split,'' Reds shortstop Barry Larkin said. ""When you play a team that you're chasing, you have to win the series to gain ground, and we didn't do that. That's the reality ... But it's over. Now we have to try to win three out of four against Arizona.''

Simple arithmetic demonstrates the Reds' plight. Should the Cardinals play at a .500 pace (42-42) the rest of the season to finish 88-74, Cincinnati would have to win 60 percent of its games (51-34) to tie them.

"We don't have a whole lot of time,'' Reds left-hander Ron Villone said. ""I know we have the second half, but you don't want to go into the second half being double digits down in the race.''

"For us to climb back into this thing, we're going to have to put it together for an extended period of time,'' Reds third baseman Aaron Boone said. ""We need to go on one of those streaks where we get really hot for 20 games or a month. If we can do that, we'll be back in this thing and be there at the end.''

Junior's homer was too little, too late. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

But the Reds have provided no evidence to suggest that they're good enough to sustain that kind of charge.

The Reds' flaws emerged as they absorbed their 16th loss in 22 games ... and their most lopsided defeat in that stretch.

St. Louis pounded Villone (7-5) for seven runs and eight hits in his five innings. ""I stunk up the joint on a couple of pitches,'' said Villone, who posted a 1-4 record and a 10.36 ERA in June.

Villone happens to be the starting rotation's leading winner. But then again, Cincinnati's that rotation ranks 12th in the league with a 5.19 ERA.

Villone sported a small scrape on his forehead after the game, apparently self-inflicted. ""I was just mad at myself, that's all,'' he said.

He made better contact than most of Cincinnati's hitters, whose production remained disjointed. The Reds mustered four hits against Andy Benes (8-3), who owns a 9-4 career record at Cinergy Field, and two relievers.

""That's one of the envious positions a lot of teams wish they had,'' Boone said.

Striving to maintain optimism, several Reds droned on about matching up well with St.Louis. ""I think we showed the Cardinals we can play with them,'' Cincinnati manager Jack McKeon said.

The Reds faced a Cardinals team that was far from full strength. St. Louis played the entire series without its regular second baseman, Fernando Vina, and third baseman, Fernando Tatis. Yet St. Louis outscored the Reds 21-16 in the series 21-16 and outhit them 38-33.

If this series was a draw, it was easy to see which team took the most punches.

"Before we left town, the last thing they got from us was a nice little whupping,'' said Cardinals outfielder Thomas Howard, a former Red. "If we were going to give them a lasting impression until we play them again, the way to do it was jump on them early like we did today.''

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