Reds pitcher Shawn Estes stretches his arm as he hangs from the dugout roof while watching the game. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        What mattered Sunday isn't that the Reds lost — which they did, 4-2, before 20,194 fans at Cinergy Field, meaning they were swept in the three-game series by the lowly Milwaukee Brewers.

        The reason it didn't matter is that the Reds are so bad, 66-70, that they're fighting to get back to .500.

        The closest they'll get to a pennant race the rest of this season is when they play a team that's in one, such as the Cardinals, with whom they play a three-game series beginning today in St. Louis.

        All that matters now for the Reds is what impacts next season, when they open Great American Ball Park.

        From that standpoint, the brass had to love — again — the way Reds reliever Scott Williamson pitched (two innings of one-hit, two-strikeout, scoreless ball).

Ryan Thompson was greeted by the Brewers' dugout after hitting the first of two homers. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        Williamson's arm is obviously healthy, and he's back to throwing an unhittable splitter, popping the radar gun in mid-90s with his fastball and buckling hitters' knees with his slider. Oh, and in case you're sitting on the hard stuff, Williamson also has a changeup.

        He hasn't allowed a run in his last nine appearances (12 3/4 innings).

        Starter or closer, that is the question for Williamson.

        Reds pitcher and resident sage Jose Rijo said he would leave Williamson in the bullpen, in the mix with Danny Graves, John Riedling and Scott Sullivan.

        “That's the mix that can give you what the Astros have — they got Octavio Dotel and Pedro Borbon setting up Billy Wagner, and they are tough. Lights out,” Rijo said. “Don't mess with success.”

Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, sporting braided hair, leaves the field following the last out. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        Williamson said he isn't ruling out staying in the bullpen, given his success there, but given his druthers, he'd prefer starting if that can help the team.

        He said he is going to meet at season's end with Reds general manager Jim Bowden — Bowden has already extended the invitation, Williamson said — to discuss the direction of Cincinnati's pitching staff and Williamson's part in it.

        “I always was a starter,” he said. “In 1999 and part of 2000 were the first time I ever was in the bullpen. I felt like I did really well in 2000 when I started.”

        Williamson noted that Graves also has the stuff to start, as was experimented with this past spring training.

        “I prefer starting, but I really enjoy relieving also,” Williamson said. “I like the intensity of closing out games and relieving in tight situations. That has made me a better starter, too, because I learned how not to press in tight situations in the fifth or sixth innings as starter.”

Reds second baseman Todd Walker is a step slow as Brewers first baseman Richie Sexson tags first for the last out of the game. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        Williamson said he will tailor his winter workout toward one or the other based upon what is discussed and what moves the Reds make in the off-season.

        “And, of course, by spring training, I need to know which I'll be doing, so there's no speculation the way there has been the last couple of years,” he said

        Williamson scoffs at anybody who suggests that Graves doesn't have the stuff or stamina to start. He says the same for himself.

        “Danny doesn't throw many pitches, so that makes him even (a better candidate than Williamson) to start,” Williamson said.

        But it's not as though whatever Graves does will be a catalyst for what happens to everybody else, Williamson said.

Reds outfielder Russell Branyan sits in the dugout, head in hands. Branyan scored the only Reds runs. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        “It has to do with this,” Williamson said. “Is Brian Moehler coming back? Is Shawn Estes coming back? Is Joey Hamilton going to be 100 percent? Is Jimmy Haynes coming back? Jim (Bowden) has a lot of decisions to make. Who are you going to keep, and who are you going to lose? That will dictate who pitches where more than anything else.”

        Losing Graves from the bullpen would weaken it, Williamson said, “but John Riedling could fill those shoes.”

        Everything else being equal, a strong case could be made for making Graves a starter and having Williamson and Riedling fight it out for the closer's role, with the runner-up getting a key set-up role.

        “If both Danny and I go in the rotation, don't forget Jose Silva is going to be 100 percent next year, and you've still got guys like Scott Sullivan, Gabe White and Luke Hudson,” Williamson said.

        Whatever decision is made, Williamson wants to be either a reliever or a starter, but not be jerked between both.

        “I want to get in a groove and go for it,” he said. “My arm problems didn't have to do with starting. That had to do with pitching a lot in '99. I had never pitched in the bullpen, and I was pitching two or three days in a row; then two or three innings, a day off, and two or three innings. But when you're in a pennant race, you have to go for it.

        “It was my fault. Whenever they asked me to go, I'd go. In 2000, I felt great starting. My arm was strong and getting stronger, until I broke (two toes in an accident at home in mid-September). Until then, I was going seven innings and was throwing great.”

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