By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SARASOTA, Fla. - Danny Graves is about fed up with the windup.

The Reds' closer-turned-starter abandoned the windup after an inning in Monday's 8-1 loss to the Florida Marlins.

He allowed two runs on five hits in the first inning. He allowed no runs on three hits in his other four innings.

Could the windup be gone for good?

"There's definitely a chance," Graves said. "I wanted to see if it would work out. Sometimes new things work out, sometimes they don't."

Graves hasn't used a windup in 12 years. The windup allows pitchers to load up on their back leg more. But Graves throws 93 mph out of the stretch.

"I shut down the windup today because I wanted to be comfortable," Graves said. "I've tried 72 different windups."

Graves was more pleased with the fact that his sore right knee passed the test Monday. On the final play of his outing, he had to run hard to cover first.

"That was a true test," he said.

RUSH JOB: Seth Etherton's third start of the spring had a little bit of everything to it.

The right-hander, vying for fifth spot in the rotation after missing nearly all of the past two seasons because of shoulder surgery, said he felt like he was rushing during the three-inning outing against the Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Etherton walked three, hit one batter and threw one wild pitch, but allowed only three runs on two hits while striking out five.

"It's just one of those days where it just didn't feel right," Etherton said. "My arm feels great. It's just my body and my tempo was horrible."

Etherton is now 1-0 with 13 strikeouts, six walks and a 5.00 ERA this spring.

WILY MO HURT: Wily Mo Pena left the game with tightness in his left groin muscle.

"He's day-to-day," Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. "It's nothing serious."

WILSON UPDATE: Paul Wilson threw a 12-minute bullpen session Monday and had no problems with his strained left hamstring.

He'll take today off and then throw in a simulated game on Wednesday.

"The reason we're using a simulated scenario is he won't have to field choppers and bunts," pitching coach Don Gullett said.

If Wilson's OK in the simulated game, he'll pitch in a minor league game next.

PETE OK: Pete Harnisch felt no ill effects Monday from Sunday's outing, his first in 1 1/2 years.

He'll pitch again Friday.

"We'll increase his pitch count and pick up the velocity," Gullett said. "We'll have him at 50 to 60 pitches."

LARSON OK: Brandon Larson felt minimal soreness Monday after tweaking his strained rib cage Sunday.

"I'd like to DH (in the next couple of days)," he said. "I only feel it with that quick, sudden movement. When I did that, it grabbed me for five, 10 seconds. Until that goes away, they're probably going to be cautious with me."

Larson stresses that he could play if this were the regular season.

"This is pain I can tolerate," he said.