The Reds have fallen into their worst rut of the year, and the fans are letting them have it.

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Sean Casey broke the shutout with a seventh-inning HR. (Ernest Coleman photo) 600 | 800 | 1024

        Third baseman Aaron Boone and some others expressed frustration after losing 5-2 to San Diego on Saturday afternoon, the Reds' fourth straight defeat. It is their longest losing streak since dropping four straight Aug. 14-18, 2000.

        “There's a lot of people shouting negative things,” Boone said. “It's frustrating, some of the things you hear in your home park.”

        Such as?

        “I mean, guys take a strike, and you just hear sighs,” Boone said. “We're in a funk right now. ... We come out and win tomorrow (Sunday), and things have a way of being OK.”

        Aside from the occasional groan following strikeouts or errors, the Reds haven't exactly been cascaded with boos lately. But the occasional catcalls, heard during quieter moments, are aggravating some players.

        For whatever reason, the Reds are 5-9 at Cinergy Field and 10-5 on the road.

        No one has a real explanation, but the Reds do remain in striking range of first place in the NL Central.

Dmitri Young misses a shoestring catch. | ZOOM |

        “The bottom line,” Boone said, “is we've got to play better, home and away.”

        Fans, naturally, want a winner. Or at least a better showing than the last four games, when the Reds have been outscored 29-15.

        “You hear some things, but I'm not going to comment,” said first baseman Sean Casey.

        “Fans are going to be fans. I'm not going to talk about that,” said shortstop Barry Larkin, who rested a second straight day with groin tightness.

        A few others voiced concerns anonymously while acknowledging the fans have a right to their opinions.

        Starting pitcher Rob Bell (0-2), who lost despite the Reds' first quality start since April 21 (six innings, three runs), said it's his impression that the team can't wait for the homestand to end. Bell joined the team Saturday after being called up from Triple-A Louisville, where he'd been since April 6.

        “With the team struggling, I guess we're aching to get on the road,” Bell said. “You really can't put your finger on why we're not winning at home.”

Damian Jackson beats Aaron Boone's tag at third. | ZOOM |

        Casey and Boone delivered back-to-back solo home runs off winner Woody Williams (3-3) in the seventh inning, but that was the extent of the Reds' scoring.

        That cut San Diego's lead to 3-2, but a comeback wasn't to be.

        Formerly invincible closer Danny Graves, inserted in the eighth inning in a non-save situation, gave up his first two runs of the season. Graves was used mainly because he hadn't pitched since Tuesday, the team's last win (7-6 over Los Angeles).

        It made for a 5-2 Padres lead and a near-automatic save situation for San Diego's Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman, baseball's all-time leader in save percentage (87.5 percent), pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to end it.

        Reds manager Bob Boone is trying to stay positive. Having been through a few 162-game seasons, he knows this, too, will pass. But each day, he knows some players press a bit harder.

        “You go through these things,” Boone said. “We're falling behind early because of the pitching. We've hit the ball well all week, but then we didn't today.”

        The Reds didn't get a runner past second base until the seventh inning against Williams, San Diego's Open ing Day starter.

Pokey Reese talks with Bob Boone after Hector Mercado (right) got into a jam. | ZOOM |

        In the eighth, trailing 3-2, the Reds missed a golden chance. After Deion Sanders' leadoff single to shortstop, Dmitri Young swung at a 2-0 pitch and grounded into a 4-3 double play. Alex Ochoa then singled, but Hoffman came in to end the inning by striking out Casey.

        Should Young have been swinging at a 2-0 pitch in that situation?

        “That's where you trust the player,” Bob Boone said. “He's got to get a good pitch there, a good whack. He didn't, and he usually does. In that situation, you're trying to come back, and you need to do some hitting.”

        If nothing else, there was Bell's decent outing. Reds starters had a 9.75 ERA in the previous seven games.

        After languishing in Louisville for a month - “I despised putting on that purple uniform every day,” he said - Bell settled down after being nicked for three early runs.

        Despite it all, despite the fans' rising impatience and the team's slump, Bell helped remind teammates of where they are.

        “To go down there (the minors) as a player, that's tough to swallow,” he said. “The only place to play is right here.”

        For better or worse.

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