Aaron Boone winces when hit by a pitch. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        SAN FRANCISCO — Sunday's loss to the San Francisco Giants was easily the toughest of the season for the Reds. It was only the second game all year they lost after leading. It was slow ... painful.

        “We just couldn't stop them,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “That's the bottom line.”

        San Francisco scored a run in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings to win 6-5 before a sellout crowd of 41,263 at Pacific Bell Park and sweep the three-game series. The Giants killed the Reds slowly and softly, mixing a series of walks and bloop hits with an occasional line drive.

        The loss — the Reds' fourth in a row — means they come home from the West Coast trip 2-4.

        Combine that fact with Sunday's effort — they led 4-0 in the fifth inning, and top relievers Scott Sullivan and Danny Graves ultimately couldn't hold a two-run lead — and you'd expect the Reds to be devastated.

Sean Casey greets Juan Encarnacion after Encarnacionšs fifth-inning HR. | ZOOM |

        But though the Reds certainly weren't happy about the recent turn of events, they return home today reasonably upbeat for the opener of a three-game series with Milwaukee.

        “We played two very good teams on this trip,” Barry Larkin said. “They kept coming after us and after us. But we could have very easily been 3-3 or 4-2 on the trip. Chris Reitsma pitched a great game today. We've got nothing to hang our heads about.”

        Four losses in a row is never a good thing. But Boone dismissed the “is this starting to snowball” question with a firm no.

        This is the point where the season started to come apart last year. But Larkin's reference to Reitsma's good performance (six innings, three runs) highlights the major difference between this year and last year: The Reds are enjoying a two-week run of excellent outings from their starting pitchers.

        The optimist's theory goes like this: If the starters continue that trend, and the hitting comes around, this team will contend, because Sunday's bullpen blowup was a rare thing.

Barry Bonds rounds the bases after hitting his 10th HR of the season and his 577th of his career. | ZOOM |

        Sunday, the hitting did come around a bit. The Reds scored two runs in the second, another in the third and another in the fourth. Juan Encarnacion was the hitting star (3-for-5, a homer, a triple, two RBI).

        The Giants scored two runs in the fifth on an infield hit, a bloop single from Benito Santiago, two fielder's choices and a sacrifice fly.

        Barry Bonds made it 4-3 with his second homer in as many days — a blast to left center on a 3-2 pitch.

        Encarnacion's RBI single in the seventh made it 5-3 ... a safe lead for a rested bullpen, right?

        Not this day. Scott Williamson worked a 1-2-3 seventh. Then Boone brought in Sullivan for the eighth. He retired David Bell, then allowed a single to pinch-hitter Marvin Benard.

        Boone brought on Graves to face Bonds.

Aaron Boone steals second. | ZOOM |

        Bonds singled, bringing Jeff Kent, 2-for-7 against Graves, to the plate. Graves got Kent, but J.T. Snow made it 5-4 with a single.

        Graves knew in the ninth he was in trouble.

        “It may sound funny,” he said. “But my ball was moving too much.”

        Graves got Santiago to start the ninth. Ramon Martinez singled to center. That brought Rich Aurilia on as a pinch hitter. He worked the count to 3-2, then grounded one to the left side.

        It would have been a double-play ball if third baseman Aaron Boone were two more steps toward shortstop. Instead, it went into left field for a hit. First and third, one out.

        Bell tied it with a flare into center for a single. Graves escaped without further damage.

        “I was fortunate to get out with one run,” he said. The bullpen was down to Gabe White, Luis Pineda and Jim Brower.

        Pineda was the choice. A rookie, 40,000 fans and a tight strike zone proved a bad combination. Pineda walked Reggie Sanders and Martinez.

        “I was OK,” Pineda said. “The umpire, he killed me. Some of those pitches were strikes.”

        Santiago came up next. He tried to bunt the first two pitches, then swung away. He lifted a fly ball that went to the wall for the game-winner.

        “We've lost four in a row, but we've played some good games,” Graves said. “Hopefully, getting back home and into the Eastern time zone will help. I know we've been successful on the West Coast, but I guess it finally caught up with us.”

Giants 6, Reds 5 Reds box, runs Notes: Larkin lowered in batting order Bell saves day for Giants Brewers bats go cold Reds-Brewers series preview Pittsburgh gets injured Pokey back NL roundup AL roundup Notes from Sunday's games

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