DETROIT — The Reds remain the major leagues' only team not to have been shut out this season.

Reds starter Larry Luebbers, making his first appearance of the season, delivers against the Detroit Tigers in the second inning Monday. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        That doesn't mean they've avoided being shut down.

        The Detroit Tigers' pedestrian pitching staff again muzzled the Reds in crucial situations, resulting in Cincinnati's 3-1 interleague defeat Tuesday night before 35,217 at Comerica Park.

        The Reds squandered all but one their 10 hits while leaving 10 runners on base. Detroit right-hander Dave Mlicki (4-9) had entered the game with a 5.72 ERA. In

        Sunday's series opener, the Reds stranded 12 runners while going 3-for-14 with men in scoring position.

        Ken Griffey Jr., who thrived as the Reds began their three-city trip in Colorado, left six runners on base for the second straight game.

        The Reds marooned at least one runner in every inning but the ninth, when Barry Larkin grounded into a game-ending double play.

        But, Reds manager Jack McKeon said, “Everybody had a shot at it. It wasn't a case where it was one guy.”

        The Reds' second consecutive loss dropped them to .500 (46-46), and thrust them further from the National League's postseason contenders.

Red pitcher Larry Luebbers holds up the ball for the umpire after tagging out Tigers' Dean Palmer. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Cincinnati's futility now lacks novelty. Ex-Red C.J. Nitkowski, who fanned Griffey with the bases loaded in a key sixth-inning situation Sunday, retired the slugger on a line drive with two on and one out in Monday's seventh inning.

        Doug Brocail proceeded to blank the Reds in the eighth, before Todd Jones worked the ninth for his 25th save.

        Cincinnati native Larry Luebbers gamely, but fruitlessly followed McKeon's blueprint for success. Making his first start since arriving from Triple-A Louisville to replace Denny Neagle in the starting rotation, Luebbers overcame the rustiness of a 10-day layoff to allow just three runs in 6ö innings.

        “I'm happy with the overall performance,” said Luebbers, a graduate of St. Henry High School. “I'm not happy with the result of the game, necessarily, because you want to win every time you pitch.”

        Luebbers, who's in his third stint in the Reds organization, faltered only in the second inning, when Detroit scored all of its runs after two were out.

        The Tigers' uprising began as Damion Easley grounded an infield single and stole second base. Shane Halter then blooped a 3-2 slider for a single, scoring Easley.

        Up came Luis Polonia, who looped a check-swing over third baseman Chris Stynes' head for a double.

        “If it's down, it's a ground ball; if it's up, it's a base hit,” Luebbers said of his final pitch to Polonia. “It wasn't where it was supposed to be.”

        Rich Becker then dumped a single into short left field, scoring Halter and Polonia.

        Luebbers still blamed himself instead of rotten luck: “If I get the ball down, I get a better chance of getting the ball on the ground.”

        Otherwise, Luebbers excelled at avoiding trouble. The Tigers wasted triples by Easley with one out in the fourth inning and Dean Palmer with two outs in the fifth.

        But Luebbers never would have lasted that long had he not survived the first inning, when Detroit loaded the bases with one out on Polonia's leadoff single and a pair of walks.

        “I think everybody watching the game or listening to it or you guys up in the press box said, "Uh oh, here it is,'” McKeon said.

        Instead of yielding to impending disaster, Luebbers coaxed Deivi Cruz's sharp ground ball to Larkin, who started an inning-ending double play.

        Said Luebbers: “A ground ball right at Larkin. Who else do you want it hit to?”

        Unfortunately for the Reds, their hitters also found plenty of fielders.

        “Despite the 10 hits,” McKeon said, “we couldn't find a hole like they did.”

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