Scott Sullivan looks to the scoreboard as Cubs players round the bases after Sammy Sosa's 3-run homer. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        Scott Sullivan has had enough. He wishes today was Sept. 30, because that would mean Sullivan's worst season as a baseball player was over.

        “I'm looking forward to regrouping,” Sullivan said. “This year has been like a bad dream.”

        It got a little worse Sunday. Sullivan allowed all six runs in the Reds' 6-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs before a crowd of 22,201 on Fan Appreciation Day at Cinergy Field.

        The Reds split the four-game series with the Cubs and went 7-3 on the homestand. The loss drops the Reds to 73-76 overall. They have to go 8-5 the rest of the way to finish at .500.

        Sullivan struggled from the start. He allowed a single to the first batter he faced in the eighth inning, former Red Chris Stynes, then walked Bobby Hill. Sullivan got an out before Sammy Sosa crushed a 1-0 pitch for a 421-foot home run.

Sosa watches his 46th homer. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        “Walking Hill was the big thing,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “If Hill gets (Stynes) over, we walk Sosa.”

        It was Sosa's 46th home run of the year, so he's beaten a lot of people. But Sullivan also gave up a three-run homer to Hill in the ninth - Hill's third home run of the year.

        It's indicative of the way things have gone for Sullivan this year: Big guys and little guys are beating him.

        “It's an unfortunate way to end the homestand,” Sullivan said. “Danny (Graves) and Joey (Hamilton) had pitched so well.”

Danny Graves leaves after five shutout innings. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        Graves, the Reds' ex-closer, made his second start, pitching five innings of shutout, three-hit ball. Hamilton followed with two innings of one-hit relief. Sullivan entered in the eighth, his customary spot as the Reds' top right-handed setup man.

        Sullivan hadn't allowed a run in his last three appearances, which, given the way the season's gone for him, constituted something of a roll.

        “I've been feeling good,” Sullivan said. “But today, I didn't feel well. The results showed it.”

        Sullivan's ERA is 16.20 in eight appearances since coming off the disabled list after a bout with shoulder tendinitis.

        That was the first time Sullivan had been on the disabled list in his career, but he has battled injuries all year.

Aaron Boone breaks his bat. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        On May 13, Milwaukee's Richie Sexson hit a comebacker that struck Sullivan near his pitching elbow. Sullivan was 3-0 with a 2.10 ERA at the time. He is 3-5 with an ERA of nearly 8.00 since then.

        Sullivan's shoulder tendinitis probably resulted from overcompensating for the elbow injury.

        Whatever it is, Sullivan clearly isn't the pitcher he had been. This is a guy who went 7-1 with a 3.31 ERA last season and won the Johnny Vander Meer Award as the team's outstanding pitcher.

        Sullivan, 32, has been remarkably consistent. He has appeared in 79 games in each of the last three seasons, with ERAs of 3.01, 3.47 and 3.31, respectively.

        “Sully has to pitch to be effective,” Boone said. “The more he pitches, the better he is usually. But you have to guard against using him too much.”

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