PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Rain washed out both games of the Reds' split-squad doubleheader Thursday. The game here went four innings before the rains came. The Rangers were leading 2-1 at the time. The game in Bradenton against the Pittsburgh Pirates never got started. Maybe the rains came because the Reds had reached their run quota for the day.

        The Reds entered Thursday on a four-game losing streak. In the last three losses, they've scored one run a game.

        The slump is team-wide. The Reds are hitting .203 as a team. Ken Griffey Jr. has yet to get a hit. Barry Larkin is at .167. The list of low averages goes on: Adam Dunn (.154), Sean Casey (.154), Juan Encarnacion (.125), Robin Jennings (.182), Austin Kearns (.182), Kelly Stinnett (.182), Ruben Mateo (.105) and Jason LaRue (.083). Todd Walker (.400) and Aaron Boone (.308) are the only locks to make the team hitting above their weight.

        “I'm concerned,” manager Bob Boone said. “Only because I want to see everyone hit. I was pleased (Wednesday). I'm not worried about averages. I'm worried about poor approaches.”

        Boone went on to say you don't want guys too hot in early March.

        “I'd be concerned if everybody got it right early,” he said. "You know no one can keep that going very long.”

        It is very early. No one has as many as 20 at-bats. Griffey has only eight, and Larkin has only six.

        Boone is starting to play the regulars more. The top players played five innings for the first time Wednesday.

        “We're seeing better swings,” Boone said. Boone said the Reds will trim the roster this weekend after the final split-squad doubleheader.

        SURGERY FOR BOHANON:

        Left-hander Brian Bohanon will have arthroscopic surgery to repair a stress fracture. Bohanon is expected to miss three to four weeks. Bohanon, a 33-year-old veteran, was 5-8 with a 7.14 ERA last year for Colorado.

        GETTING CLOSE:

        Boone thinks Scott Williamson and Seth Etherton will be ready to pitch in a game next week, if all goes well.

        “That's the hope,” Boone said.

        Williamson is coming off Tommy John surgery on his elbow April12; Etherton is coming off shoulder surgery March20.

        Williamson will be prepared as a reliever, pitching one inning every other day. Etherton will throw 30 pitches or so the first outing and build from there.

        Boone has been impressed by what he has seen from Williamson.

        “His fastball is close to where it was,” Boone said. “It'll get there. His mechanics are so much better. He's so much smoother. It's real encouraging.”

        The decision on what to do with both pitchers won't come until the end of camp.

        “It will come down to: Can he help us?” Boone said.

        DH DUNN:

        Adam Dunn took a considerable amount of guff from Griffey and Danny Graves because Dunn was used as a designated hitter in Thursday's game against Texas.

        “Twenty-one years old and DH-ing,” Griffey said.

        “That's because he's teacher's pet,” Graves said. “He lives with the manager's son.”

        Dunn is rooming with Aaron Boone, Bob's son, for spring training.

        “I'm not dumb,” Dunn deadpanned. “You think I like Aaron?”

        TRIVIA:

        Griffey was the Seattle Mariners' first-round pick in 1987 and first in the draft overall. Who was Seattle's second pick? Dave Burba, the former Red and former Cleveland Indian now with the Texas Rangers.

        Griffey and Burba spoke for a few minutes before Thursday's game.

        FAMILIAR FACE:

        Another former Red, Rob Bell, is trying to earn a spot in the Texas rotation, although he has pitched out of the bullpen so far this spring.

        “I got a save the other day,” he said, “the first of my life. Long-term, I want to be a starter.”

        Bell was 5-5 with the Rangers after the Reds traded him to Texas for Ruben Mateo and Edwin Encarnacion in June. But he had a 7.14 ERA.

        “Last year was a mess,” he said. “My mechanics were awful. Then you get into August and you're trying to pitch to make up for April. That doesn't work.”

        UP NEXT:

        The Reds play the Red Sox at Fort Myers today at 1:05 p.m. Right-hander Elmer Dessens, whose game was rained out Thursday, will start against right-hander Dustin Hermanson. Lance Davis was originally scheduled to start, but Davis, who is 0-2 with a 23.14 ERA, isn't scheduled to pitch through Saturday.

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