Eddie Taubensee muffs the throw as Bobby Higginson scores. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

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        DETROIT — Credit the Reds for being themselves on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers.

        Currently stuck in limbo between contention and irrelevance, the Reds marooned legions of baserunners in the middle of nowhere during a 6-2 interleague loss before a paid crowd of 40,637, the largest in Comerica Park's three-month history.

        Cincinnati (46-45) stranded 12 baserunners, including eight in scoring position, as its three-game winning streak ended. After Tigers starter Jeff Weaver (6-7) left the bases loaded in the fifth inning, reliever C.J. Nitkowski, a former Red, did the same one inning later by striking out Ken Griffey Jr. and retiring Dante Bichette on a grounder. Reds hitters went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position; two of those hits were infield singles.

        “We've had a couple of weeks of good offense,” manager Jack McKeon said of his Reds, who have hiked their team batting average to .272 from .263 since June22. “Maybe today was a letdown.”

        If it becomes a meltdown, Denny Neagle won't be the last Red to be sent to a contending team. Cincinnati remained seven games behind first-place St. Louis in the NL Central Division and four games behind the San Francisco Giants, who lead the wild-card standings. With the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline looming, Reds management must soon decide whether to add to the roster or dismantle it.

Chris Stynes can't ahndle the throw as Juan Encarnacion steals third. | ZOOM |

        “I'd hate to be Jim right now,” said right-hander Steve Parris, referring to Reds general manager Jim Bowden. “Who knows what's going through his mind? I'm sure he really doesn't know what to do, either. But we're not out of this race yet ...”

        Parris (5-12), who has be come the subject of trade rumors, didn't enhance his value while allowing six runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.

        Capitalizing on plate umpire Mike Everitt's liberal strike zone, Parris preserved Cincinnati's 1-0 lead through three innings. Then he allowed four runs in the fourth inning.

        “That killed us,” Parris said. “I couldn't recover from that. It's a big inning, and you have to stay out of those. The other team gets some confidence and our team loses a little bit.”

        Bobby Higginson doubled to begin Detroit's rally. Shane Halter, probably one of the few first basemen to bat ninth since the American League introduced designated hitters in 1973, pulled a two-run double to left field for the inning's biggest hit.

        But a little luck would have spared Parris. Juan Encarnacion's double, which drove in the inning's second run, barely eluded leaping second baseman Pokey Reese. Had Reese snared the ball, the resulting double play would have ended the inning.

        Trailing 6-2 in the sixth, the Reds still had a chance to recover when singles by Reese and Barry Larkin and a walk to Chris Stynes loaded the bases with one out. With the left-handed Griffey due up, the Tigers played brought in the left-handed Nitkowski from the bullpen.

        Nitkowski needed just four pitches to retire Griffey, striking him out on a low-and-outside curveball.

        “That was fun,” said Nitkowski, the Reds' first-round selection in the 1994 draft. “I wasn't very nervous about it, to be honest with you. I just wanted to make sure I threw strikes.”

        Keeping those deliveries where Griffey couldn't quite reach them was essential. Though Comerica is cavernous to left-center field (395 feet) and center (420), right field is within easy reach to the power alley (365) and down the line (330).

        “The way our park's set up, I'm not going to give him a chance to pull the ball,” Nitkowski said. “If he's going to hit me out, he's going to hit it 400 feet the other way instead of 340 to right.”

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