They gave away little stuffed Mr. Red heads at Cinergy Field Friday night as part of a promotion. Slam down the baseball-sized head and you hear two things you don't hear on the radio anymore:

        “Bye, bye baseball,” from Joe Nuxhall. And, “This one belongs to the Reds,” from Marty Brennaman.

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Pokey Reese scores the Reds' only run. (Brandi Stafford photos) 600 | 800 | 1024

        Home runs and wins are becoming a rarer and rarer occurence for the Reds, especially at home.

        The Reds lost their fifth straight and ninth in 10 games Friday, falling to the Cleveland Indians 5-1 before a crowd of 38,790 at Cinergy. The Reds fell to 11-33 at home. They are 6-27 at home since May 1.

        The Reds tied a record by going 89 games into the season without a pitcher throwing a complete game. They set the record last year.

        But pitching wasn't to blame in this one.

        The Reds have gone into a collective hitting slump. They've scored two runs in the last three games. They've scored 30 runs in the 10-game swoon.

        Leadoff hitter Alex Ochoa pushed his hitless streak to 30 at-bats. The No. 2 hitter, Pokey Reese, is hitting .180 since May 30. And the No. 3 hitter, Ken Griffey Jr., has four hits in his last 31 at-bats.

        The aforementioned trio produced five of the Reds' nine baserunners Friday.

Sean Casey wears a pained look after being tagged out. | ZOOM |

        “It's crazy,” Ochoa said. “We haven't been swinging the bats. Me especially ... We're not scoring runs. We're not winning games. It's frustrating.”

        As a result of the offensive ineptitude, the starting pitcher has to be on — or else. Friday's starter, Elmer Dessens, had one bad inning (the four-run third) and it was over.

        “There's no more room for mistakes,” manager Bob Boone said.

        Dessens (6-7) went seven innings, allowing six hits and five runs, but he put the Reds in a 4-0 hole by the third inning.

        Given the way the Reds are hitting and the way Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia was throwing, that meant trouble for the home club.

        Sabathia, a 20-year-old left-hander, struck out a career-high 11, three better than his previous best.

        He was tough, right?

Jim Thome scores when Jason LaRue drops the ball. | ZOOM |

        “I don't know,” said Aaron Boone, who struck out three times against Sabathia. “Ask someone who had a prayer. I had one of those nights you have once a year. I just had horrible at-bats.”

        Dessens retired Indians in order in the first and second innings. Travis Fryman singled to lead off the third. Dessens got the next two batters before allowing a RBI single to Kenny Lofton.

        That made it 1-0. Omar Vizquel singled. Then came the big blow: Roberto Alomar's three-run homer. It was his 10th of the year and made it 4-0.

        “He made six or seven mistakes,” Boone said. “You can't do that against a first-division club. With their lineup, they'll hurt you if you make mistakes.”

Elmer Dessens looks away as Roberto Alomar trots home after his 3-run HR. | ZOOM |

        The Reds got a run back in their half of the third. Ochoa walked, but was thrown out stealing with Reese at the plate. Reese then doubled.

        Griffey got Reese home with a single to right.

        But the Indians pushed the lead back to four in the fourth. Jim Thome singled against the Reds' shift. Reese, the shortstop, went a long way to field the ball, which was hit to the left of second base.

        Thome moved to second on Marty Cordova's groundout. He scored on Fryman's single to center. Griffey fielded the ball and made a strong throw, but catcher Jason LaRue couldn't hold on to the ball.

        Dessens retired 11 of the next 12 batters before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

        “We'll pull out of it,” Boone said. “You've just got to climb on the horse again (today).”

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